Hospital-related costs of sepsis around the world: A systematic review exploring the economic burden of sepsis

M. van den Berg, F. E. van Beuningen, J. C. ter Maaten, H. R. Bouma*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

46 Citations (Scopus)
383 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the quality of manuscripts reporting sepsis health care costs and to provide an overview of hospital-related expenditures for sepsis in adult patients around the world.

Methods: We systematically searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane and Google Scholar to identify relevant studies between January 2010 and January 2022. We selected articles that provided costs and cost-effectiveness analyses, defined sepsis and described their cost calculation method. All costs were adjusted to 2020 US dollars. Medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs) for various costs of sepsis were calculated. The quality of economic studies was assessed using the Drummond 10-item checklist.

Results: Overall, 26 studies met our eligibility criteria. The mean total hospital costs per patient varied largely, between €1101 and €91,951. The median (IQR) of the total sepsis costs per country were €36,191 (€17,158 - €53,349), which equals €50 (€34 - €84) per capita annually. The relative amount of healthcare budget spent on sepsis was 2.65%, which equals 0.33% of the gross national product (GNP).

Conclusion: While general sepsis costs are high, there is considerable variability between countries regarding the costs of sepsis. Further studies examining the impact on sepsis costs, especially on the general ward, can help justify, design and monitor initiatives on prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this time-critical and potentially preventable disease.

Original languageEnglish
Article number154096
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Critical Care
Volume71
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct-2022

Keywords

  • Budget
  • Costs
  • Economic burden
  • Global burden
  • Money
  • sepsis

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