Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, Kuwait University, Shadadiya, Kuwait.
Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2023 Nov 28;23(1):1314. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-10287-z.
Among the GCC countries affected by COVID-19 infections, Kuwait has been significantly impacted, with 658,520 cases and 2,563 deaths reported by the WHO on September 30, 2022. However, the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on Kuwait's economy, especially in the healthcare sector, remains unknown.
This study aims to determine the total cost of managing COVID-19 in-patients in Kuwait.
A cross-sectional design was employed for this study. A total of 485 COVID-19 patients admitted to a general hospital responsible for COVID-19 cases management were randomly selected for this study from May 1st to September 31st, 2021. Data on sociodemographic information, length of stay (LOS), discharge status, and comorbidities were obtained from the patients' medical records. The data on costs in this study cover administration, utility, pharmacy, radiology, laboratory, nursing, and ICU costs. The unit cost per admission was calculated using a step-down costing method with three levels of cost centers. The unit cost was then multiplied by the individual patient's length of stay to determine the cost of care per patient per admission.
The mean cost of COVID-19 in-patient care per admission was KD 2,216 (SD = 2,018), which is equivalent to USD 7,344 (SD = 6,688), with an average length of stay of 9.4 (SD = 8.5) days per admission. The total treatment costs for COVID-19 in-patients (n = 485) were estimated to be KD 1,074,644 (USD 3,561,585), with physician and nursing care costs constituting the largest share at 42.1%, amounting to KD 452,154 (USD 1,498,529). The second and third-largest costs were intensive care (20.6%) at KD 221,439 (USD 733,893) and laboratory costs (10.2%) at KD 109,264 (USD 362,123). The average cost for severe COVID-19 patients was KD 4,626 (USD 15,332), which is almost three times higher than non-severe patients of KD 1,544 (USD 5,117).
Managing COVID-19 cases comes with substantial costs. This cost information can assist hospital managers and policymakers in designing more efficient interventions, especially for managing high-risk groups.
在受 COVID-19 感染影响的 GCC 国家中，科威特受到了显著影响。截至 2022 年 9 月 30 日，世界卫生组织报告科威特有 658520 例病例和 2563 例死亡。然而，COVID-19 疫情对科威特经济的影响，特别是对医疗保健部门的影响尚不清楚。
本研究旨在确定科威特管理 COVID-19 住院患者的总成本。
本研究采用横断面设计。从 2021 年 5 月 1 日至 9 月 31 日，随机选择一家负责 COVID-19 病例管理的综合医院的 485 名 COVID-19 住院患者进行本研究。从患者的病历中获得社会人口统计学信息、住院时间 (LOS)、出院状态和合并症的数据。本研究中的成本数据涵盖管理、公用事业、药房、放射科、实验室、护理和重症监护室成本。每个入院人次的单位成本使用三级成本中心的逐步降低成本法计算。然后，将单位成本乘以每位患者的住院时间，以确定每位患者每次住院的护理成本。
COVID-19 住院患者每次住院的平均治疗费用为 2216 科威特第纳尔（SD=2018），相当于 7344 美元（SD=6688），每次住院的平均住院时间为 9.4（SD=8.5）天。COVID-19 住院患者（n=485）的总治疗费用估计为 1074644 科威特第纳尔（3561585 美元），其中医生和护理费用占比最大，为 42.1%，达 452154 科威特第纳尔（1498529 美元）。第二和第三大成本分别为重症监护（20.6%）221439 科威特第纳尔（733893 美元）和实验室成本（10.2%）109264 科威特第纳尔（362123 美元）。重症 COVID-19 患者的平均费用为 4626 科威特第纳尔（15332 美元），几乎是非重症患者的 1544 科威特第纳尔（5117 美元）的三倍。
管理 COVID-19 病例需要付出巨大的代价。这些成本信息可以帮助医院管理者和决策者设计更有效的干预措施，特别是针对高危人群。
