Estimated lost earnings following ARDS (n=67)*
| Follow-up time point after ARDS | Year 1† | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |||||
| n (%) | Lost earnings, US$ | n (%) | Lost earnings, US$ | n (%) | Lost earnings, US$ | n (%) | Lost earnings, US$ | n (%) | Lost earnings, US$ | |
| Employment status leading to lost earnings‡ | ||||||||||
| Working less than before ARDS, US$ | 13 (19%) | 264 197 | 13 (19%) | 307 556 | 9 (13%) | 240 593 | 13 (19%) | 204 110 | 9 (13%) | 211 991 |
| Receiving disability, US$ | 18 (27%) | 817 812 | 20 (30%) | 946 214 | 20 (30%) | 975 399 | 20 (30%) | 1 100 536 | 21 (31%) | 1 124 516 |
| Unemployed, US$ | 14 (21%) | 643 929 | 15 (22%) | 644 999 | 15 (22%) | 682 008 | 11 (16%) | 447 192 | 9 (13%) | 360 382 |
| Total per year, US$ | 1 725 938 | 1 898 768 | 1 898 000 | 1 751 838 | 1 696 889 | |||||
| Mean (SD) per year, US$§ | 38 354 (21 533) | 39 558 (21 857) | 43 136 (23 189) | 40 740 (24 600) | 43 510 (25 753) | |||||
| Cumulative over time, US$ | 1 725 938 | 3 624 706 | 5 522 706 | 7 274 544 | 8 971 433 | |||||
| Mean (SD) cumulative over time, US$§¶ | 38 354 (21 533) | 74 808 (43 010) | 111 810 (63 062) | 146 343 (86 189) | 180 221 (110 285) | |||||
*All values represent estimated lost earnings in US dollars. Includes only study participants with full-time or part-time work before ARDS. Annual estimates based on pre-ARDS hours working and age-based and gender-based estimates of hourly wages from the Bureau of Labour statistics. Based on this earnings estimation, patients reporting full-time (n=54 of 67, 81%) and part-time (n=13 of 67, 19%) work, respectively, had US$2 941 296 (mean (SD) per person, US$54 468 [US$17 146]) and US$260 350 (US$20 027 [US$9995]) of estimated annual earnings immediately before ARDS.
†Determined from patient-reported employment status at the 2-year initial follow-up survey. Patients reporting return to work by 1 year were assumed to have obtained employment status similar to their 2-year status (if employed at 2 years) or baseline status (if not employed at 2 years). If return to work did not occur by 1 year, employment status category was based on year 2 employment status.
‡Survivors ‘Working less than before ARDS’ were working following ARDS, but reporting less hours than their baseline work. At year 1, 3 of 18 (17%) survivors receiving disability were working any hours per week, while at years 2, 3, 4 and 5, 100% reported 0 hours of work per week, and therefore had US$0 of estimated potential earnings. At years 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, retired, unknown employment status or dead subjects represented 2 (3%), 3 (4%), 5 (7%), 7 (10%) and 9 (12%) of participants, respectively, and were assumed to have US$0 estimated earnings or estimated lost earnings.
§Per non-retired survivor attaining any estimated lost earnings at this time point.
¶At years 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the cumulative proportion of survivors accruing estimated lost earnings equaled 67% (45 of 67 survivors), 75% (50 of 67), 75% (50 of 67), 77% (50 of 65) and 77% (49 of 64). The mean cumulative lost earnings over time represents average lost earnings accrued by these survivors, and hence does not equal the sum of the mean annual lost earnings, which is the average lost earnings for survivors during that year alone.
ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome.