How did chronic hepatitis C impact costs related to hospital health care in France in 2009?

ABSTRACT

AIMS: To evaluate the health care burden of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in French hospitals. METHODS: All hospital stays with CHC ICD-10 code were extracted from the 2009 French hospital discharge database and classified in five groups non-complicated CHC, liver cirrhosis (CIR), hepatocarcinoma (HCC), liver transplantation (LT) and unclassified. Hospital costs were calculated according to the French official prices and expressed in 2010 euro. The economic analysis was carried out from the Social Security point of view. RESULTS: Twenty-seven thousand two hundred and fifty-eight of the 68,683 hospital stays with CHC ICD-10 code corresponding to 15,482 patients were considered as directly related to HCV 52% for non-complicated CHC, 33% for CIR, 11% for HCC, 2% for LT and 2% unclassified. The total cost of hospital stays for CHC and its complications was estimated at 65,956,938 €. Almost half (47%) of total costs were attributable to CIR while HCC and LT contributed to 18% and 19%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This first analysis of the French hospital discharge database focused on CHC brings new and essential information. It shows that 84% of HCV-related hospital costs are attributable to advanced liver diseases. Together with more efficient therapies, enhancing screening and access to treatment policies could substantially relieve the hospital burden of CHC.