Study of the hospitalisation cost of complications in diabetes

Abstract

In all the five hospitals of Navarra Province, with a catchment area of 525.000 inhabitants, all the hospital stays during one year (from 1/9/95 to 31/8/96) have been studied. They have been classified by the 3M, PC Grouper software. The cost of stay was calculated by the RDG weight and its relative cost in each hospital. El 5.57% of admissions were diabetic patients. They made up 8.3% of the stays and accounted for 8.07% of the total expenses of hospitalisation. Ischemic cardiopathy was the main complication in the length of hospitalisation and costs. Diabetes comorbidity is responsible for a large amount of hospital expenses. Preventive care may bring a decrease in its complications and hospital costs. Further studies may show the repercussions of preventive care profits in diabetes on hospital admission rates.