Indirect costs relate to society, the patients and their employers. They result from non-medical losses as a consequence of the illness. They are related to:
- loss of work (or school days) by patients, or if the patient is a young child, by their parents (absenteeism)
- loss of productivity at work or at school
- early retirement
- environmental adaptation costs
- loss related to the limitation of sport and leisure activities.
Indirect costs are currently still difficult to estimate, despite the development of new standardized scales. Most studies have been performed in the United States, making it difficult to extrapolate the results to Europe or the rest of the world.