The Cost of COPD Exacerbations Managed in Hospital

OBJECTIVES: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common disease that has severe health and economic consequences. In this study we estimated the economic cost of COPD exacerbations requiring hospital stay in our hospital. Material and Methods: The direct cost of 376 hospitalizations during one year with the diagnosis of COPD exacerbations were evaluated retrospectively in our hospital’s chest diseases department. Results: Three hundred and eleven of the patients enrolled in the study were men while only 65 were women. The mean age of patients was 65.31 and median hospitalization time was 8 (mean: 9.86) days. The average medication cost per exacerbation was 526.55 Turkish Lira (TL) ($392.94, €333.25), the average hospital care cost per exacerbation was 1271.94 TL ($949.20, €805.02) and the average total cost per exacerbation was 1833.8537 TL ($1368.54, €1160.66). The hospitalization time for patients with lung malignancy and sequelae of lung tuberculosis were found to be statistically longer. Antibiotic treatment increased the costs and hospitalization time. Treatment in intensive care units, nosocomial infections and necessity of long term oxygen treatment all increased the costs and hospital stay time. Conclusion: This study shows that the cost of intensive care unit treatment, long term oxygen treatment, treatment of hospital acquried infections and use of antibiotics were higher than usual in COPD exacerbations requiring hospitalisations.