Executive summary

Background:  Brain disorders (psychiatric, neurological and neurosurgical diseases together) figure amongst the leading causes of disease and disability. Yet, the knowledge of the epidemiological and economic impact of brain disorders has been relatively little researched in Europe. WHO data suggest, however, that brain disorders cause 35% of the burden of all diseases in Europe.Objectives:  The present study aims at estimating the economic cost of disorders of the brain in Europe based on the published epidemiological and economic evidence. A secondary objective was to identify gaps in both epidemiological and economic evidence on brain disorders thus providing focus for future research efforts.Methods:  A model was developed to combine epidemiological and economic data on brain disorders in Europe (EU member countries, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) and thus estimate their total cost. More specifically, it consisted of the following steps in which we: (i) transformed and converted available economic data to a defined time‐period as well as currency (€2004); (ii) adjusted country specific economic data for purchasing power and relative size of economy; (iii) imputed data for cou