Advanced COPD patients under home mechanical ventilation and/or long term oxygen therapy: italian health care costs.

Introduction. Little information is available on health care costs for patients with very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease The aim of the current work was to evaluate Italian health care costs in these patients. Patients and Methods. Prospective 1-year analysis were assessed in three subgroups of patients; non-invasively ventilated (n=30); invasively-ventilated (n=12) and on long-term oxygen therapy (n= 41). Acute costs for care were a sum of fees for doctor’s consultations, admissions to hospital (ward and intensive care unit) and emergency drugs. Chronic costs were the sum of costs for pharmacotherapy and home ventilation and/or oxygen care. Results. Mean cost/day/patient was 96±112 € (range 9-526 €), with acute costs accounting for 72% and chronic costs for 28% of the total cost burden, with no significant differences in costs associated with the three subgroups. Acute costs had a non-normally distribution (range 0 to 510 €) with cost for hospitalization being the highest cost burden with greater than 30 % of acute care costs were attributed to only a small segment of patients. Chronic care costs were also unevenly distributed among the various groups (ANOVA p=0.006), with home oxygen supply being the highest cost burden. Conclusions. The current Health Care System is in urgent need for a reassessment of the high cost burden associated with hospitalizations and home oxygen supply.