Rai Kiran K, Gowman Hannah, Seif Monica, Massey Lucy, Volkman Hannah, Schmetz Andrea, Nguyen Jennifer, Yang Jingyan
Adelphi Real World, Bollington, UK.
Pfizer Inc., 66 Hudson Blvd E, New York, NY, 10001, USA.
Adv Ther. 2025 Aug 11. doi: 10.1007/s12325-025-03313-5.
There is limited evidence on the economic burden of COVID-19 in Germany. This study aims to quantify healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU) and direct medical costs associated with COVID-19 in paediatrics in Germany.
This was a population-based retrospective cohort study using data from the German Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) claims database to define outpatient (April 2020 to December 2021) and hospitalised (April 2020 to October 2022) cohorts of paediatric patients (aged 1-17 years) with a COVID-19 diagnosis.
In the outpatient cohort (n = 104,656), most (77%) patients had ≥ 2 COVID-19-related general practitioner (GP) visits and 29% had ≥ 1 specialist visit during their diagnosis quarter. Outpatient resource use was greater in high-risk patients. When stratified by age, a greater proportion of children aged 1-4 years had ≥ 2 GP consultations, with specialist visits more common in those aged 5-11 years. The median cost per COVID-19 diagnosis quarter per patient was €192. Among the hospitalised cohort (n = 3129), the median general inpatient length of hospital stay (LoS) per patient per admission was 6.0 days; LoS was highest in those aged 5-11 years (7.0 days), at high risk (7.0 days) and during Alpha and Omicron predominance (both 7.0 days). The median cost per admission per patient was €12,503. Admission to critical care was observed in 13%, in whom the median cost per hospitalisation was €21,193.
COVID-19-associated HCRU and costs among the paediatric population in Germany are non-negligible, driven largely by hospitalisations, particularly those who had a critical care admission and were at high risk.
关于德国新冠疫情经济负担的证据有限。本研究旨在量化德国儿科中与新冠疫情相关的医疗资源利用（HCRU）和直接医疗成本。
这是一项基于人群的回顾性队列研究，使用德国法定医疗保险（SHI）理赔数据库的数据来确定新冠确诊的儿科患者（1至17岁）的门诊（2020年4月至2021年12月）和住院（2020年4月至2022年10月）队列。
在门诊队列（n = 104,656）中，大多数（77%）患者在诊断季度有≥2次与新冠相关的全科医生（GP）就诊，29%有≥1次专科就诊。高风险患者的门诊资源使用更多。按年龄分层时，1至4岁儿童中更大比例有≥2次全科医生咨询，专科就诊在5至11岁儿童中更常见。每位患者每个新冠诊断季度的中位数成本为192欧元。在住院队列（n = 3129）中，每位患者每次入院的普通住院中位住院时长（LoS）为6.0天；LoS在5至11岁患者中最高（7.0天）、高风险患者中最高（7.0天）以及在阿尔法和奥密克戎毒株占主导期间最高（均为7.0天）。每位患者每次入院的中位数成本为12,503欧元。13%的患者入住重症监护病房，其中每位患者每次住院的中位数成本为21,193欧元。
德国儿科人群中与新冠相关的HCRU和成本不可忽视，主要由住院治疗驱动，特别是那些入住重症监护病房和高风险患者。
