Abstract
BackgroundWell-advised priority setting in prevention and treatment of injuries relies on detailed insight into costs of injury. This study aimed to provide a detailed overview of medical and productivity costs due to injury up to two years post-injury and compare these costs across subgroups for injury severity and age.MethodsA prospective longitudinal cohort study followed all adult (≥18 years) injury patients admitted to a hospital in Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. Patients filled out questionnaires 1 week, 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after trauma, including items on health care consumption from the medical consumption questionnaire (iMCQ) and productivity loss from the productivity cost questionnaire (PCQ). Furthermore, injury severity was defined by Injury Severity Score (ISS). Data on diagnostics was retrieved from hospital registries. We calculated medical costs, consisting of in-hospital costs and post-hospital medical costs, and productivity costs due to injury up to two years post-injury.ResultsApproximately 50% (N = 4883) of registered patients provided informed consent, and 3785 filled out at least one questionnaire. In total, the average costs per patient were €12,190. In-hospital costs, post-hospital medical costs and productivity costs contributed €4810, €5110 and €5830, respectively. Total costs per patient increased with injury severity, from €7030 in ISS1-3 to €23,750 in ISS16+ and were lowest for age category 18-24y (€7980), highest for age category 85 years and over (€15,580), and fluctuated over age groups in between.ConclusionBoth medical costs and productivity costs generally increased with injury severity. Furthermore, productivity costs were found to be a large component of total costs of injury in ISS1-8 and are therefore a potentially interesting area with regard to reducing costs.
Highlights
Injury is a leading cause of death and disability across the world, and a major public health problem [1, 2]
Total costs per patient increased with injury severity, from €7030 in ISS1-3 to €23,750 in ISS16+ and were lowest for age category 18-24y (€7980), highest for age category 85 years and over (€15,580), and fluctuated over age groups in between
This study aimed to provide a detailed overview of the in-hospital and post-hospital health care costs and productivity costs due to injury up to two years after presentation at the emergency department (ED), and to provide an overview of differences in health care and productivity costs after injury for subgroups based on injury severity and age
Summary
Injury is a leading cause of death and disability across the world, and a major public health problem [1, 2]. Injuries comprise a great variety of injury types and severity levels, ranging from frequent minor injuries (e.g. superficial injuries) to rare major injuries (e.g. polytrauma). In order to enable a well-advised priority setting of both health care provided after injury and injury prevention, it is necessary to gain insight in the costs per injury category and severity level [3]. A detailed registration of both injury severity and medical care received after hospital discharge is of great relevance to gain insight in costs of injuries. Well-advised priority setting in prevention and treatment of injuries relies on detailed insight into costs of injury. This study aimed to provide a detailed overview of medical and productivity costs due to injury up to two years post-injury and compare these costs across subgroups for injury severity and age
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
