PLoS ONE. Health Services Utilization, Work Absenteeism and Costs of Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 in Spain: A Multicenter-Longitudinal Study

[Giuseppe]

[Source: PLoS ONE, full text: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]

Health Services Utilization, Work Absenteeism and Costs of Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 in Spain: A Multicenter-Longitudinal Study



by Mariana Galante, Olatz Garin, Elisa Sicuri, Francesc Cots, Anna Garc?a-Alt?s, Montserrat Ferrer, ?ngela Dominguez, Jordi Alonso


Background

The aim of this study was to estimate healthcare resource utilization, work absenteeism and cost per patient with pandemic influenza (H1N1)2009, from its beginning to March 2010, in Spain. We also estimated the economic impact on healthcare services.


Methods and Findings

Longitudinal, descriptive, multicenter study of in- and outpatients with confirmed diagnosis of influenza A (H1N1) in Spain. Temporal distribution of cases was comparable to that in Spain. Information of healthcare and social resources used from one week before admission (inpatient) or index-medical visit (outpatient) until recovery was gathered. Unit cost was imputed to utilization frequency for the monetary valuation of use. Mean cost per patient was calculated. A sensitivity analysis was conducted, and variables correlated with cost per patient were identified. Economic impact on the healthcare system was estimated using healthcare costs per patient and both, the reported number of confirmed and clinical cases in Spain. 172 inpatients and 224 outpatients were included. Less than 10% were over 65 years old and more than 50% had previous comorbidities. 12.8% of inpatients were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Mean length of hospital stay of patients not requiring critical care was 5 days (SD = 4.4). All working-inpatients and 91.7% working-outpatients went on sick leave. On average, work absenteeism was 30.5 days (SD = 20.7) for the first ones and 9 days (SD = 6.3) for the latest. Caregivers of 21.7% of inpatients and 8.5% of outpatients also had work absenteeism during 10.7 and 4.1 days on average respectively. Mean cost was ?6,236/inpatient (CI95% = 1,384?14,623) and ?940/outpatient (CI95% = 66?3,064). The healthcare economic burden of patients with confirmed influenza was ?144,773,577 (IC95% 13,753,043?383,467,535). More than 86% of expenditures were a result of outpatients' utilization.


Conclusion

Cost per H1N1-patient did not defer much from seasonal influenza estimates. Hospitalizations and work absenteeism represented the highest cost per patient.
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[tetano]

Re: PLoS ONE. Health Services Utilization, Work Absenteeism and Costs of Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) 2009 in Spain: A Multicenter-Longitudinal Study

Non-hospital resources, the highest health cost of influenza A


A study by the Healthcare Services Research Group at the IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute) has studied the per-patient costs associated with the pandemic influenza virus type H1N1, also called influenza A, from 2009. The study, conducted jointly with the CIBER (Biomedical Research Consortium on Epidemiology and Public Health, or CIBERESP), has centred on the use of healthcare resources and sick leave due to employees? temporary disability. This influenza affected more than 74 countries and caused some alarm due to its being declared pandemic and because several forecasts placed its financial burden at very high levels.

Spain recorded nearly 1 and a half million outpatient cases of influenza A, which entailed a cost of ? 940 per patient, and only 3025 hospitalisations, representing an average of ? 6,236 per patient. The employment of non-hospital resources equaled 86% of the total expense for the influenza for health services. With respect to the impact on labour, temporary incapacities of employees were an average of 30.5 days for hospitalised patients and some 9 days for outpatients.

According to Jordi Alonso, coordinator of the IMIM Health Services Research Group, 'this study has led to the determination of the real use of services due to influenza A as, until this time, evaluations were based on estimated or simulated data. Given that influenza A did not end up being as aggressive as forecast, we can state that these results would be similar to those for flu in a normal epidemic situation.?

..


http://www.healthcanal.com/infectio...ources-the-highest-health-cost-influenza.html