Table 3.1. Social costs by cost category and QALY losses from high-risk youthful behavior, total and per youth aged 12-20, United States, 1998

Cost Category /

Total Cost

/

Cost per American Youth**

Medical / 16,637,000,000 / 470
Other resources / 35,899,000,000 / 1,020
Work / 121,052,000,000 / 3,430
Quality of life / 261,799,000,000 / 7,430
Total / $435,387,000,000 / $12,350
QALYs Lost / 1,939,000 / 0.05
Note: Costs are prevalence-based (in 1999 dollars, with future consequences discounted to present value at a 3% discount rate). Averages computed from 1999 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), 1999 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), 1999 Monitoring the Future Survey, and 1996 Health Behaviors of School Children survey.
**Averaged across youth with problems and youth with no problems.

Table 3.2. Total social costs and QALY losses from high-risk youthful behavior by risk category, U.S., 1998, excluding costs of adult behavior initiated before age 21

Risk Category / Medical / Other Resource / Work
Loss / Quality of Life / Total Cost / QALYs Lost
Violence & related property crime / 5.7 B / 30.8 B / 12.7 B / 116.7 B / 165.8 B / 864,000
Binge drinking1 / 3.2 B / 5.0 B / 5.1 B / 28.7 B / 42 B / 213,000
Cocaine &/or heroin abuse1 / 644 M / 148 M / 5.4 B / 15.5 B / 21.7 B / 115,000
High-risk sex / 6.8 B / 8.1 B / 33.3 B / 48.1 B / 246,000
Smoking / 99 M / 81 M / 239M / 419 M / 2,000
High school dropout / 87.1 B / 54.5 B / 141.6 B / 404,000
Suicide acts / 221 M / 11 M / 2.6 B / 12.9 B / 15.7 B / 95,000
Total / $16.6 B / $35.9 B / $121.1 B / $261.8 B / $435.4 B / 1,939,000

1 Excludes costs of crime and suicide acts related to substance abuse

Note: Costs are prevalence-based costs(in 1999 dollars).B = billion, M = million

Table 3.3. Social costs of youth violent crimes and property crimes committed by violent offenders, by drug and alcohol involvement and cost category, United States, 1998 (in 1999 dollars, in billions [B] or millions [M]).

Substances Involved / Medical / Other Resource / Work Loss / Quality of Life / Total Cost / QALYs Lost
Heroin or Cocaine / 1.3 B / 8.7 B / 3 B / 26.6 B / 39.6 B / 197,000
Alcohol & Other Drugs / 1.3 B / 5.6 B / 2.9 B / 28.4 B / 38.2 B / 210,000
Alcohol Only / 930 M / 4.7 B / 2.2 B / 19.1 B / 26.9 B / 141,000
Other Drugs Only / 350 M / 2.4 B / 1 B / 8.3 B / 12 B / 62,000
None / 1.8 B / 9.4 B / 3.6 B / 34.3 B / 49.1 B / 254,000
Total / $5.6 B / $30.8 B / $12.7 B / $116.7 B / $165.8 B / 864,000

Note: Table presents prevalence-based costs. Some “Heroin or Cocaine” cases also involve alcohol.

Table 3.4. Social Costs of youth violent offenses and property crimes committed by violent offenders, by type of crime and cost category, United States, 1998 (in 1999 dollars, in billions [B] or millions [M]).
Crime / Number of Cases / Medical / Other Resource / Work Loss / Quality of Life / QALYs Lost / Total Cost
Rape / 587,000 / 2 B / 1.9 B / 1.5 B / 57.6 B / 427,000 / $63 B
Murder / 6,114 / 137 M / 1.0 B / 6.9 B / 14.8 B / 109,000 / $22.8 B
Assault / 3,463,000 / 2.3 B / 17 B / 3.7 B / 30.5 B / 226,000 / $53.5 B
Robbery / 336,000 / 185 M / 2.8 B / 335 M / 2.3 B / 17,000 / $5.6 B
Child Abuse & Neglect / 422,000 / 968 M / 552 M / 365 M / 11.2 B / 83,000 / $13.1 B
Burglary / 375,000 / 2 M / 1.4 B / 6 M / 130 M / 1,000 / $1.5 B
Larceny / 1,643,000 / 12 M / 3.1 B / 15 M / 0 / 0 / $3.1 B
Motor Vehicle Theft / 432,000 / 3 M / 3.1 B / 23 M / 136 M / 1,000 / $3.2 B
Total / 7,254,114 / $5.7 B / $30.8 B / $12.7 B / $116.7 B / 864,000 / $165.8 B

Note: Table presents prevalence-based costs.

Table 3.5. Social Costs of Binge Drinking by Problem and Cost Category, Ages 12-20, United States, 1998 (in 1999 dollars)

Problem / Medical / Other Resource / Work Loss / Quality of Life / Total Cost / QALYs Lost
Impaired Driving / 1.2 B / 2.1 B / 3.3 B / 13.5 B / $20.1 B / 100,000
Violence / 2.2 B / 8.5 B / 5 B / 47.4 B / $63.1 B / 351,000
Property Crimes / 4 M / 1.8 B / 11 M / 65 M / $1.9 B / 500
Burns / 2 M / 0 / 63 M / 130 M / $195 M / 1,000
Drowning / 3 M / 0 / 159 M / 278 M / $440 M / 2,000
Suicide / 20 M / 1 M / 233 M / 1.2 B / $1.4 B / 9,000
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome / 373 M / 0 / 140 M / 244 M / $757 M / 2,000
Alcohol Poison / 10 M / 0 / 17 M / 325 M / $352 M / 2,000
Abuse Treatment / 1.1B / 0 / 0 / 0 / $1.1 B / 0
Total / $4.9B / $12.4 B / $8.9 B / $63.1 B / $89.3 B / 467,500

Note: Table presents prevalence-based costs.

Table 3.6. Costs of cocaine and heroin abuse by problem and cost category, ages 12-20, United States, 1998 (in 1999 dollars)

Problem / Medical / Other Resource / Work Loss / Quality of Life / Total Cost / QALYs Lost
Drug Treatment / 378 M / 0 / 0 / 0 / $378 M / 0
Medical Care / 350 M / 0 / 679 M / 1.3 B / $2.4 B / 10,000
Risk of Death1 / 23 M / 22 M / 4.8 B / 15.4 B / $20.2 B / 114,000
Violence / 1.2 B / 5.6 B / 2.9 B / 25.2 B / $35 B / 187,000
Property Crimes / 7 M / 3 B / 17 M / 106 M / $3.1 B / 1,000
Drug Possession / 21 M / 54 M / 34 M / 257 M / $366 M / 2,000
Nonfatal Suicide Acts / 11 M / 0 / 9 M / 293 M / 314 M / 2,000
Total / $1.97 B / $8.8 B / $8.5 B / $42.7 B / $61.9 B / 316,000

1 Includes suicide deaths.

Note: Table presents prevalence-based costs.

Table 3.7. Social Costs of High-Risk Sex by Problem and Cost Category, Ages 12-20, United States, 1998 (in 1999 dollars)

Problem / Medical / Work
Loss / Quality of Life / Total
Cost / QALYs Lost
HIV/AIDS / 680 M / 22 B / 8.9 B / $11.7 B / 65,000
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / 219 M / 20 M / 85 M / $324 M / 1,000
Other STDs / 478 M / 835 M / 3.4 B / $2.7 B / 25,000
Unintended Pregnancy / 5.4 B / 5.1 B / 20.9 B / 31.4 B / 155,000
Total / $6.8 B / $8.1 B / $33.3 B / $48.1 B / 246,000

Note: Table presents prevalence-based costs.

Table 3.8. Lifetime Cost of Smoking for All Smokers Aged 12-20 in 1998, United States (in 1999 dollars discounted to present value at a 3% discount rate)

Cost Category /

Total Cost

Medical / 37 B
Work / 658 B
Quality of Life / 1,900 B
Total / $2,595 B
QALYs Lost / 14,078,000

Note: Table presents incidence-based costs.

Table 3.9. Number of problem youth ages 12-20 and cost of one youth’s high-risk career by type of risk, United States, 1998 (in 1999 dollars)

Risk Category / Number of Youth / Medical / Other
Resource / Work
Loss / Quality of Life / Total Cost / QALYs
Lost
Violent criminal / 300,000 / 20,900 / 511,000 / 141,100 / 424,600 / 1,097,600 / 3.14
Binge drinker1 / 4,817,000 / 3,700 / 9,600 / 6,900 / 48,600 / 68,800 / 0.36
Cocaine/heroin abuser1 / 674,000 / 28,300 / 128,100 / 122,900 / 614,500 / 893,800 / 4.55
High-risk sex partner / 6,337,000 / 4,900 / 0 / 5,600 / 23,500 / 34,000 / 0.17
Female / 2,805,000 / 9,800 / 0 / 9,600 / 40,700 / 60,100 / 0.30
Male / 3,532,000 / 1,000 / 0 / 2,500 / 9,800 / 13,300 / 0.07
Smoker / 6,286,000 / 5,800 / 0 / 104,700 / 302,400 / 412,900 / 2.24
High school dropout / 519,000 / 0 / 0 / 167,800 / 105,100 / 272,900 / 0.78
Suicide attempter2 / 99,000 / 2,800 / 100 / 26,800 / 143,300 / 173,000 / 0.96
Youth w/all problems / Unknown / 55,000 / 632,200 / 486,500 / 1,333,400 / 2,507,100 / 9.88

1 Includes costs of crime and suicide acts related to substance abuse of $51,100 per binge drinker and $221,700 per drug abuser.

2 Excludes those whose suicide acts were not medically treated and recognized as suicide acts by the medical provider or not coded as suicide in Vital Statistics mortality data.

Note: Table presents incidence-based costs.

Table 3.10. Ranged Estimates of Costs of Multi-Problem Youth by Cost Category, United States, 1998 (in 1999 dollars)

Cost Category / % Multiple from
4 Data Sets / % Multiple from 3
Data Sets
Medical / 12,319,000,000 / 12,884,000,000
Other Resource / 23,782,000,000 / 26,480,000,000
Work Loss / 101,999,000,000 / 103,287,000,000
Quality of Life / 196,446,000,000 / 207,200,000,000
Total Cost / $334,546,000,000 / $349,851,000,000
QALYs Lost / 1,455,000 / 1,535,000
Life-Equivalents / 63,000 / 66,500

Note. Multi-problem youth are defined as having two or more of the following problems: violent criminal, smoker, risky sexual behavior, cocaine/heroin abuser. Costs include costs of those behaviors plus costs of related suicide attempts and school dropout. The first column averages data from YRBS, Monitoring the Future, Healthy Behavior of Children, and NHSDA databases. The second column excludes NHSDA data. See text for details. Table presents prevalence-based costs.