Open AccessHealthcare cost attributable to bronchiolitis: A population-based cohort study
Author(s) -
Beate Sander,
Yaron Finkelstein,
Hong Lu,
Chenthila Nagamuthu,
Erin Graves,
Lauren Ramsay,
Jeffrey C. Kwong,
Suzanne Schuh
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0260809
Subject(s) - bronchiolitis , medicine , pediatrics , population , gestational age , cohort , incidence (geometry) , pregnancy , environmental health , physics , biology , respiratory system , optics , genetics
Objective To determine 1-year attributable healthcare costs of bronchiolitis. Methods Using a population-based matched cohort and incidence-based cost analysis approach, we identified infants <12 months old diagnosed in an emergency department (ED) or hospitalized with bronchiolitis between April 1, 2003 and March 31, 2014. We propensity-score matched infants with and without bronchiolitis on sex, age, income quintile, rurality, co-morbidities, gestational weeks, small-for-gestational-age status and pre-index healthcare cost deciles. We calculated mean attributable 1-year costs using a generalized estimating equation model and stratified costs by age, sex, income quintile, rurality, co-morbidities and prematurity. Results We identified 58,375 infants with bronchiolitis (mean age 154±95 days, 61.3% males, 4.2% with comorbidities). Total 1-year mean bronchiolitis-attributable costs were $4,313 per patient (95%CI: $4,148–4,477), with $2,847 (95%CI: $2,712–2,982) spent on hospitalizations, $610 (95%CI: $594–627) on physician services, $562 (95%CI: $556–567)] on ED visits, $259 (95%CI: $222–297) on other healthcare costs and $35 ($27–42) on drugs. Attributable bronchiolitis costs were $2,765 (95%CI: $2735–2,794) vs $111 (95%CI: $102–121) in the initial 10 days post index date, $4,695 (95%CI: $4,589–4,800) vs $910 (95%CI: $847–973) in the initial 180 days and $1,158 (95%CI: $1,104–1213) vs $639 (95%CI: $599–679) during days 181–360. Mean 1-year bronchiolitis costs were higher in infants <3 months old [$5,536 (95%CI: $5,216–5,856)], those with co-morbidities [$17,530 (95%CI: $14,683–20,377)] and with low birthweight [$5,509 (95%CI: $4,927–6,091)]. Conclusions Compared to no bronchiolitis, bronchiolitis incurs five-time and two-time higher healthcare costs within the initial and subsequent six-months, respectively. Most expenses occur in the initial 10 days and relate to hospitalization.