A new study calculates the average cost of hospitalisation for moderate to severe traumatic brain injury in England and Wales to be over £15,000. The report, published in the May edition of the journal Anaesthesia, provides the most accurate data yet on the financial costs of hospital treatment of brain injury and its predictive factors.
The study was put together using data from the Trauma Audit Research Network (TARN), which collects information on trauma care from around half of hospitals in England and Wales which receive trauma patients. Dr Stephen Morris et al, at Brunel University, studied the data of 6484 patients, aged 18 and over, admitted to hospital with moderate or severe TBI between January 2000 and December 2005.
The researchers analysed the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, acute treatment provided and outcomes observed. They focused specifically on NHS hospital costs and the study is the first to provide a detailed assessment of the costs associated with traumatic brain injury in England and Wales. The average cost of hospitalisation was found to be £15,462 but costs varied significantly by age, injury severity, coexisting injuries, availability of neurosurgical services, and speciality of attendants at the accident and emergency department.
This study provides important information for guiding decision-makers towards an optimal use of health care resources. The authors state that; "identification of substantial differences in hospital costs by specific patient characteristics generates knowledge useful for a more rational budgeting of health care expenditures, and allows for a much better estimation of the cost-effectiveness of new public health interventions".
Reference
S. Morris, S. Ridley, F. E. Lecky, V. Munro, M. C. Christensen (2008). Determinants of hospital costs associated with traumatic brain injury in England and Wales, Anaesthesia, vol.63, no.5, pp.499-508.
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