Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
PLoS One. 2018 Apr 12;13(4):e0195759. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195759. eCollection 2018.
Acute gastroenteritis illness is a common illness that causes considerable morbidity, but current estimates of the cost to the Australian healthcare system are unknown.
To estimate the current healthcare utilisation and direct public healthcare system costs attributable to acute gastroenteritis illness in Australia.
This is an incidence-based cost-of-illness study focused on quantifying direct health care costs using a bottom-up approach. Data on general practitioner consultations, prescribed medications, diagnostic tests, specialist consultations, emergency department visits and hospital admissions were collected from national reports.
Using 2016 prices, the estimated annual direct per capita cost of acute gastroenteritis illness was AUD$14.87 (USD$10.71), equating to AUD$20.27 (USD$14.59) per case. The estimated overall economic burden in Australia was AUD$359 million (USD$258 million; AUD$1.5 million per 100,000 people). The major contributors to this cost were hospital admissions (57.1%), emergency department visits (17.7%), and general practitioner consultations (14.0%). Children under five years of age have the highest per capita rates of acute gastroenteritis illness; however, service utilisation rates vary by age group and both young children and older adults accounted for a substantial proportion of the overall economic burden attributable to acute gastroenteritis illness.
Although chronic diseases comprise a large cost burden on the healthcare system, acute illnesses, including acute gastroenteritis illness, also impose substantial direct healthcare system costs. Providing data on current cost estimates is useful for prioritizing public health interventions, with our findings suggesting that it would be ideal if targeted interventions to reduce hospitalisation rates among young children and older adults were available.
急性肠胃炎是一种常见疾病，会导致相当高的发病率，但目前尚不清楚其给澳大利亚医疗系统带来的成本。
估计澳大利亚因急性肠胃炎而导致的医疗利用和直接公共医疗系统成本。
这是一项基于发病率的疾病成本研究，重点是使用自下而上的方法量化直接医疗成本。从国家报告中收集了关于全科医生就诊、处方药物、诊断测试、专科医生就诊、急诊就诊和住院的数据。
使用 2016 年的价格，估计每年急性肠胃炎的人均直接成本为 14.87 澳元（10.71 美元），相当于每例病例 20.27 澳元（14.59 美元）。澳大利亚的总体经济负担估计为 3.59 亿澳元（2.58 亿美元；每 10 万人 150 万澳元）。造成这种成本的主要原因是住院治疗（57.1%）、急诊就诊（17.7%）和全科医生就诊（14.0%）。五岁以下儿童的急性肠胃炎人均发病率最高；然而，服务利用率因年龄组而异，幼儿和老年人都占急性肠胃炎总经济负担的很大一部分。
尽管慢性病对医疗系统造成了很大的负担，但急性疾病，包括急性肠胃炎，也会对医疗系统造成巨大的直接成本。提供当前成本估算数据有助于确定公共卫生干预措施的优先级，我们的研究结果表明，如果能够提供针对幼儿和老年人降低住院率的目标干预措施，这将是理想的。
