Background: There are not available adequate studies of the costs of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) in Spain. The aim of the study is to estimate the cost of CDAD for the National Health Service (NHS).
Methods: an economic model was carried out to calculate the cost per episode of CDAD (due to antimicrobials, prolonged hospitalization, surgical procedures, measures to control the infection, recurrences of infections treated) and the CDAD annual cost. Resources use in clinical practice was obtained through a Delphi panel of Spanish clinicians with expertise in CDAD and unit costs (€ 2012) from Spanish Sources.
Results: An estimated 7,601 episodes of CDAD occur annually in Spain (incidence of 17.1 episodes/year/10,000 hospital discharges) with an annual cost to the NHS of € 32,157,093. Cost per episode of CDAD: € 3,901 (initial infection), € 4,875 (first recurrence) and € 5,916 (second recurrence). Total cost of recurrences: € 10,426,750 annually. The 95.6% of spending is due to the prolonged hospitalization, 0.5% to antibiotic treatment, 2.8% for surgery and 1.1% for measures of control infection. Study results are sensitive to incidence and case fatality rate of CDAD in Spain and the prolongation of duration of hospital stay due to CDAD.
Conclusions: According to this study, the expense associated with CDAD is primarily due to the prolongation of hospitalization and has a great economic impact on the NHS.