Disability-Adjusted Life Years and cost of health loss of hospitalised major trauma patients in New Zealand.

Abstract

The aims of this study were to quantify the burden, and the cost of health loss, following hospitalisation for major trauma in New Zealand. Hospitalised major trauma patients injured between July 2017 and June 2020 were extracted from the New Zealand Trauma Registry. Case-mix of major trauma in each year was summarised using descriptive statistics. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were calculated for the cohort. A cost per DALY was applied to estimate the cost of health loss. A total of 6,629 major trauma cases were recorded, rising from 2,072 in 2017-2018 to 2,191 in 2019-2020. The patient case-mix remained relatively consistent over the timeframe while the in-hospital mortality rate declined from 9.2% to 7.3%. Hospitalised major trauma patients accrued 22,718 DALYs (average 7,573 DALYs per year) at an estimated health loss cost of $1.02 billion ($341 million per year). The cost of health loss per case declined from $162,747 in 2017-2018 to $143,577 in 2019-2020. The burden of major trauma is high. As injury is a preventable condition, the findings highlight the need for dedicated investment in both primary prevention and trauma care in New Zealand to reduce these avoidable costs.