Health care cost of crusted scabies in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Australia.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
; 16(3): e0010288, 2022 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35344551
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Crusted scabies is a debilitating dermatological condition. Although still relatively rare in the urban areas of Australia, rates of crusted scabies in remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory (NT) are reported to be among the highest in the world.OBJECTIVE:
To estimate the health system costs associated with diagnosing, treating and managing crusted scabies.METHODS:
A disease pathway model was developed to identify the major phases of managing crusted scabies. In recognition of the higher resource use required to treat more severe cases, the pathway differentiates between crusted scabies severity grades. The disease pathway model was populated with data from a clinical audit of 42 crusted scabies patients diagnosed in the Top-End of Australia's Northern Territory between July 1, 2016 and May 1, 2018. These data were combined with standard Australian unit costs to calculate the expected costs per patient over a 12-month period, as well as the overall population cost for treating crusted scabies.FINDINGS:
The expected health care cost per patient diagnosed with crusted scabies is $35,418 Australian dollars (AUD) (95% CI $27,000 to $43,800), resulting in an overall cost of $1,558,392AUD (95% CI $1,188,000 to $1,927,200) for managing all patients diagnosed in the Northern Territory in a given year (2018). By far, the biggest component of the health care costs falls on the hospital system.DISCUSSION:
This is the first cost-of-illness analysis for treating crusted scabies. Such analysis will be of value to policy makers and researchers by informing future evaluations of crusted scabies prevention programs and resource allocation decisions. Further research is needed on the wider costs of crusted scabies including non-financial impacts such as the loss in quality of life as well as the burden of care and loss of well-being for patients, families and communities.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Escabiose
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Health_economic_evaluation
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA TROPICAL
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Austrália