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Multicenter Study
. 2018 May;103(5):452-457.
doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2017-312805. Epub 2018 Jan 23.

Healthcare costs attributable to congenital cytomegalovirus infection

Marjolein J Korndewal  1   2 , Marlies Weltevrede  1 , M Elske van den Akker-van Marle  3 , Anne Marie Oudesluys-Murphy  4 , Hester E de Melker #  1 , Ann C T M Vossen #  2
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Healthcare costs attributable to congenital cytomegalovirus infection

Marjolein J Korndewal et al. Arch Dis Child. 2018 May.

Abstract

Objective: Congenital cytomegalovirus infection (cCMV) can cause symptoms at birth as well as long-term impairment. This study estimates cCMV-related healthcare costs in the Netherlands in early childhood.

Design, setting and patients: In a nationwide retrospective cohort study, 156 children with cCMV were identified by testing 31 484 neonatal dried blood spots for cCMV. Use of healthcare resources in the first 6 years of life by children with cCMV and a matched cCMV-negative control group were analysed. Mean costs per child were calculated by multiplying healthcare resource use by its reference prices.

Exposure: Children with cCMV were compared with cCMV-negative children.

Main outcome measures: The average total healthcare costs per child were based on the average costs for hospital admissions and consultations by healthcare providers.

Results: Mean healthcare costs of children with cCMV (€6113, n=133) were higher than children without cCMV (€3570, n=274), although statistically not significant, with a mean difference of €2544 (95% CI €-451 to €5538). The costs of children with long-term impairment were two times higher in children with cCMV (€17 205) compared with children without cCMV (€8332).

Conclusions: Children with cCMV, especially those with long-term impairment and those symptomatic at birth, accrue higher healthcare costs than cCMV-negative children in the first 6 years of life, although this is not statistically significant. This economic impact is of importance in the evaluation of preventive measures against cCMV.

Trial registration number: NTR3582.

Keywords: costing; health economics; infectious diseases; virology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

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