Estimating and examining the costs of inpatient diabetes care in an Irish Public Hospital. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • AIM: To estimate and examine hospitalisation costs of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in an Irish public hospital. METHODS: A retrospective audit of hospital inpatient admissions over a 5-year period was undertaken, and a wide range of admission-related data were collected for a sample of 7,548 admissions. Hospitalisations were costed using the diagnosis-related group methodology. A series of descriptive, univariate and multivariate regression analyses were undertaken. RESULTS: The mean hospitalisation cost for Type 1 diabetes was €4,027 and for Type 2 diabetes was €5,026 per admission. Sex, admission type and length of stay were significantly associated with hospitalisation costs for admissions with a primary diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. Age, admission type, diagnosis status, complications status, discharge destination, length of stay and year were significantly associated with hospitalisation costs for admissions with a primary diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. Length of stay was associated with higher mean costs, with each additional day increasing Type 1 diabetes costs by €260 (p = 0.001) and Type 2 diabetes by €216 (p < 0.001). Unscheduled admissions were associated with significantly lower costs than elective admissions; €1,578 (p = 0.035) lower for Type 1 diabetes and €2,108 (p < 0.001) lower for Type 2 diabetes. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents estimates of the costs of diabetes care in the Irish public hospital system and identifies the factors which influence costs for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. These findings may be of interest to patients, the public, researchers and those with influence over diabetes policy and practice in Ireland and internationally.

authors

  • Friel, Kathleen
  • Gillespie, Patrick
  • Coates, Vivien
  • McCauley, Claire
  • McCann, Michael
  • O'Kane, Maurice
  • McGuigan, Karen
  • Khamis, Amjed
  • Manktelow, Matthew

publication date

  • December 4, 2021

Research

keywords

  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC9299992

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85120466098

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1111/dme.14753

PubMed ID

  • 34839536

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 39

issue

  • 4