The economic burden of nephropathy in diabetic patients in Germany in 2002

ObjectiveThe objective was to describe the resource use and costs due to predefined stages of nephropathy in diabetic patients and to evaluate its economical impact in Germany.Design and methodsIn this retrospective, observational study information about socio-demographics, clinical characteristics and resource use on adult type 1 and type 2 patients with nephropathy in diabetic patients were collected from 23 general practitioners, 10 internists and 24 diabetologists, who were randomly selected from a physicians’ database. Based on these results average costs per patient were evaluated for each complication stage from the societal perspective and the perspective of the health insurance.ResultsThe costs due to nephropathy in diabetic patients increase dramatically with the progression of the disease. The main cost drivers were dialysis and hospitalization which accounted for 68% of the total costs due to nephropathy in diabetic patients. The total estimated costs related to nephropathy in diabetic patients were €1332 (from the perspective of the health insurance) and €2019 from the societal perspective.ConclusionPatients at high risk should be identified as early as possible and intensive diabetic case management should be provided to them to prevent or decelerate the expensive complications of nephropathy in diabetic patients.