Cost effects of preterm birth: a comparison of health care costs associated with early preterm, late preterm, and full-term birth in the first 3 years after birth

Josephine Jacob (), Moritz Lehne, Andrea Mischker, Normen Klinger, Claudia Zickermann and Jochen Walker
Additional contact information
Josephine Jacob: Institut für angewandte Gesundheitsforschung Berlin (InGef)
Moritz Lehne: Elsevier Health Analytics
Andrea Mischker: BIG direkt gesund
Normen Klinger: BIG direkt gesund
Claudia Zickermann: BIG direkt gesund
Jochen Walker: Institut für angewandte Gesundheitsforschung Berlin (InGef)

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2017, vol. 18, issue 8, No 9, 1046 pages

Abstract: Abstract Preterm birth is one of the main causes for infant morbidity and mortality. Apart from negative health outcomes, preterm birth also produces significant health care expenditures. This study evaluates the costs associated with preterm birth in different health sectors during the first 3 years of infants’ lives. In a retrospective observational study based on claims data from a German statutory health insurance company, average costs for medication, hospital treatment, ambulatory treatment, and non-medical remedies during the first 3 years after birth were analyzed for early preterm, late preterm, and full-term births. Costs associated with preterm births were generally higher than for full-term births, with the highest costs for the hospital treatment of early preterm births. Cost differences tended to decrease in the second and third year after birth except for ambulatory treatment costs, which decreased for late preterm and full-term births but not for early preterm births. The study shows that preterm birth is associated with increased health care costs, particularly during the first year after birth, indicating that the implementation of adequate programs and policies for preventing preterm birth is not only desirable from a medical but also from a health economic perspective.

Keywords: Preterm birth; Full-term birth; Health care costs; Gestational age (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-016-0850-x

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