Economic consequences of premature mortality due to brain cancer in Spain: a human capital approach

Abstract

Objective: Although primary malignant brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumours arerelatively rare, they contribute disproportionately to cancer-related mortality due to their highfatality rates and aggressive progression. This study quantifies the economic impact of braincancer-related premature deaths in Spain from a societal perspective.Methods: We employed the human capital approach to estimate productivity losses from braincancer mortality. Age- and sex-specific mortality, employment rates, and average salaries (2013–2022) were obtained from the Spanish National Statistics Institute. We calculated years of poten-tial labour productive life lost (YPLPLL) and applied a 3% discount rate to estimate the presentvalue of future income losses. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using alternative discountrates (0 and 6%) and varying assumptions about retirement age, wage, and employment rates.Results: Brain cancer accounted for 2–3% of all cancer-related deaths in Spain, with a higherburden in men. Approximately 44% of deaths occurred in working-age individuals, resulting inan estimated 157,396 YPLPLL and e2.78 billion in productivity losses over the study period.Sensitivity analyses showed a range of e2.08–3.48 billion. On average, this equates to e309 mil-lion annually, or around e8 per working-age individual.Conclusion: Despite its low incidence, brain cancer imposes a substantial economic burden dueto premature mortality during peak productive years. These findings underscores the impor-tance of enhancing prevention, early diagnosis, and care delivery, particularly in ageing popula-tions and high-income countries such as Spain.