Cost burden and net monetary benefit loss of neonatal hypoglycaemia

• Published in: BMC health services research Vol. 21; no. 1; pp. 121 - 13
• Main Authors: Glasgow, Matthew J., Edlin, Richard, Harding, Jane E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 05.02.2021; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: Aftercare; Age; Analysis; Asymptomatic; Bias; Care and treatment; Cerebral palsy; Cost estimates; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Demographic aspects; Diagnosis; economics and financing systems; Epilepsy; expenditure; Expenditures; Health Administration; Health aspects; Health care expenditures; Health Informatics; Health services; Humans; Hypoglycemia; Hypoglycemia - epidemiology; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Intellectual disabilities; Learning disabilities; Learning disorder; Medical care, Cost of; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Newborn babies; Newborn infant; Nursing Research; Patient Discharge; Patient outcomes; Population; Public Health; Purchasing power parity; Quality of Life; Quality-Adjusted Life Years; Research Article; Utilization; Vision disorder; Visual impairment; New Zealand; United States > US; Cerebral palsy; Epilepsy; Vision disorder; Learning disorder; Newborn infant
• ISSN: 1472-6963; 1472-6963
• DOI: 10.1186/s12913-021-06098-9

Background Neonatal hypoglycaemia is a common but treatable metabolic disorder that affects newborn infants and which, if not identified and treated adequately, may result in neurological sequelae that persist for the lifetime of the patient. The long-term financial and quality-of-life burden of neonatal hypoglycaemia has not been previously examined. Methods We assessed the postnatal hospital and long-term costs associated with neonatal hypoglycaemia over 80 year and 18 year time horizons, using a health-system perspective and assessing impact on quality of life using quality-adjusted life year (QALYs). A decision analytic model was used to represent key outcomes in the presence and absence of neonatal hypoglycaemia. Results The chance of developing one of the outcomes of neonatal hypoglycaemia in our model (cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, seizures, vision disorders) was 24.03% in subjects who experienced neonatal hypoglycaemia and 3.56% in those who do did not. Over an 80 year time horizon a subject who experienced neonatal hypoglycaemia had a combined hospital and post-discharge cost of NZ$72,000 due to the outcomes modelled, which is NZ$66,000 greater than a subject without neonatal hypoglycaemia. The net monetary benefit lost due to neonatal hypoglycaemia, using a value per QALY of NZ$43,000, is NZ$180,000 over an 80 year time horizon. Conclusions Even under the most conservative of estimates, neonatal hypoglycaemia contributes a significant financial burden to the health system both during childhood and over a lifetime. The combination of direct costs and loss of quality of life due to neonatal hypoglycaemia means that this condition warrants further research to focus on prevention and effective treatment.