Health economic burden of patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) – A retrospective study of German health insurance claims data
Friedrich K. Trefz, Ania C. Muntau, Kim Maren Schneider, J. Altevers, Christian Jacob, Sebastian Braun, Wolfgang Greiner, Ashok Kumar Jha, Mohit Jain, Ignacio Alvarez, Paul Lane, Claudia Zeiss, Frank Rutsch
Abstract
= 3770) in Germany. Healthcare costs and resource-utilization were analyzed for the year 2015. Differences between groups were tested using 95% CI of mean differences (MD). PKU patients had significantly higher mean costs in total (MD €3307, 95% CI €1736-€4879), for pharmaceuticals (MD €1912, 95% CI €1195-€2629) [including dietary amino-acid supplements (MD €1268, 95% CI €864-€1672)], and outpatient costs (MD €395, 95% CI €115-€675). Inpatient costs (MD €904, 95% CI -€293 to €2100) and costs for aids and remedies (MD €97, 95% CI -€10 to €203) were also higher in PKU patients. PKU patients had more outpatient visits and stayed longer in hospital. Adult PKU patients incur higher total healthcare costs than non-PKU controls, especially regarding pharmaceuticals and outpatient costs, and more frequent resource-utilization, resulting in higher health-economic burden for the statutory healthcare system.