The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation

We described the health resource utilisation (HRU) and associated direct medical costs of managing epilepsy in children and young people (CYP) using population-level data from the United Kingdom. The study cohort were CYP born between 1988 and 2004 who were newly diagnosed with epilepsy and iden...

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Main Authors: Ali, Mostafa A. Sayed, Elliott, Rachel A., Tata, Laila J.
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2014
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40624/
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author Ali, Mostafa A. Sayed
Elliott, Rachel A.
Tata, Laila J.
author_facet Ali, Mostafa A. Sayed
Elliott, Rachel A.
Tata, Laila J.
author_sort Ali, Mostafa A. Sayed
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description We described the health resource utilisation (HRU) and associated direct medical costs of managing epilepsy in children and young people (CYP) using population-level data from the United Kingdom. The study cohort were CYP born between 1988 and 2004 who were newly diagnosed with epilepsy and identified using a nationally representative primary care database from the United Kingdom. Reference unit costs were applied to each element of HRU to calculate annual direct medical costs per child. We assessed whether HRU and costs differed by time from diagnosis, age, sex and socioeconomic deprivation. Of 798 CYP newly diagnosed with epilepsy, 56% were male and the mean age at diagnosis was 5.6 years. The highest burden of HRU was in the first year following diagnosis with a mean annual cost of £930 (95% confidence interval (CI) £839–1022) per child in this first year. This decreased to £461 (95%CI 368–551) in the second year which remained fairly constant each subsequent year (£413 (95% CI 282–540) in the 8th year). The highest contribution to the annual medical costs was from inpatient hospital admissions followed by the costs of AEDs. Mean annual medical costs were significantly higher in children under 6 years of age compared with older children (p < 0.01), but were similar across socioeconomic groups (p = 0.62). The direct medical costs of HRU in CYP with epilepsy are higher in the first year after diagnosis compared to subsequent years, reflecting HRU related to the diagnostic process in the first year. Medical costs did not vary substantially by sex or socioeconomic deprivation indicating a similar level of consultation and care across these groups.
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spelling nottingham-406242020-05-04T16:42:05Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40624/ The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation Ali, Mostafa A. Sayed Elliott, Rachel A. Tata, Laila J. We described the health resource utilisation (HRU) and associated direct medical costs of managing epilepsy in children and young people (CYP) using population-level data from the United Kingdom. The study cohort were CYP born between 1988 and 2004 who were newly diagnosed with epilepsy and identified using a nationally representative primary care database from the United Kingdom. Reference unit costs were applied to each element of HRU to calculate annual direct medical costs per child. We assessed whether HRU and costs differed by time from diagnosis, age, sex and socioeconomic deprivation. Of 798 CYP newly diagnosed with epilepsy, 56% were male and the mean age at diagnosis was 5.6 years. The highest burden of HRU was in the first year following diagnosis with a mean annual cost of £930 (95% confidence interval (CI) £839–1022) per child in this first year. This decreased to £461 (95%CI 368–551) in the second year which remained fairly constant each subsequent year (£413 (95% CI 282–540) in the 8th year). The highest contribution to the annual medical costs was from inpatient hospital admissions followed by the costs of AEDs. Mean annual medical costs were significantly higher in children under 6 years of age compared with older children (p < 0.01), but were similar across socioeconomic groups (p = 0.62). The direct medical costs of HRU in CYP with epilepsy are higher in the first year after diagnosis compared to subsequent years, reflecting HRU related to the diagnostic process in the first year. Medical costs did not vary substantially by sex or socioeconomic deprivation indicating a similar level of consultation and care across these groups. Elsevier 2014-01-07 Article PeerReviewed Ali, Mostafa A. Sayed, Elliott, Rachel A. and Tata, Laila J. (2014) The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation. Epilepsy Research, 108 (3). pp. 576-586. ISSN 1872-6844 Epilepsy in children general practice medical cost health resource http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092012111300346X doi:10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2013.12.014 doi:10.1016/j.eplepsyres.2013.12.014
spellingShingle Epilepsy in children
general practice
medical cost
health resource
Ali, Mostafa A. Sayed
Elliott, Rachel A.
Tata, Laila J.
The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation
title The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation
title_full The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation
title_fullStr The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation
title_full_unstemmed The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation
title_short The direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation
title_sort direct medical costs of epilepsy in children and young people: a population-based study of health resource utilisation
topic Epilepsy in children
general practice
medical cost
health resource
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40624/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40624/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40624/