The costs arising from pressure ulcers attributable to malnutrition

SummaryBackground & aimsTo estimate the economic consequences of pressure ulcer attributable to malnutrition.MethodsStatistical models were developed to predict the number of cases of pressure ulcer, associated bed days lost and the dollar value of these losses in public hospitals in 2002/2003 in Queensland, Australia. The following input parameters were specified and appropriate probability distributions fitted.
• Number of at risk discharges per annum.
• Incidence rate for pressure ulcer.
• Attributable fraction of malnutrition in the development of pressure ulcer.
• Independent effect of pressure ulcer on length of hospital stay.
• Opportunity cost of hospital bed day.One thousand random re-samples were made and the results expressed as (output) probabilistic distributions.ResultsThe model predicts a mean 16,060 (SD 5671) bed days lost and corresponding mean economic cost of AU$12,968,668 (SD AU$4,924,148) (EUROS 6,925,268; SD 2,629,495) of pressure ulcer attributable to malnutrition in 2002/2003 in public hospitals in Queensland, Australia.ConclusionThe cost of pressure ulcer attributable to malnutrition in bed days and dollar terms are substantial. The model only considers costs of increased length of stay associated with pressure ulcer and not other factors associated with care.