Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional survey
Abstract Background Little is known about the costs of treating ataxia and whether treatment at a specialist ataxia centre affects the cost of care. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients who attended specialist ataxia centres in three European countries reported differences in th...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-023-02971-4 |
| _version_ | 1797397755001307136 |
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| author | Stephen Morris Julie Vallortigara Julie Greenfield Barry Hunt Deborah Hoffman Carola Reinhard Holm Graessner Antonio Federico Vinciane Quoidbach Paola Giunti |
| author_facet | Stephen Morris Julie Vallortigara Julie Greenfield Barry Hunt Deborah Hoffman Carola Reinhard Holm Graessner Antonio Federico Vinciane Quoidbach Paola Giunti |
| author_sort | Stephen Morris |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Little is known about the costs of treating ataxia and whether treatment at a specialist ataxia centre affects the cost of care. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients who attended specialist ataxia centres in three European countries reported differences in their health care use and costs compared with patients who did not attend a specialist ataxia centre. We compared mean resource use and health service costs per patient affected by ataxia in the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany over a 12-month period. Data were obtained from a survey distributed to people with ataxia in the three countries. We compared mean resource use for each contact type and costs, stratifying patients by whether they were currently attending a specialist ataxia centre or had never attended one. Results Responses were received from 181 patients from the United Kingdom, 96 from Italy and 43 from Germany. Differences in the numbers of contacts for most types of health service use between the specialist ataxia centre and non-specialist ataxia centre groups were non-significant. In the United Kingdom the mean total cost per patient was €2209 for non-specialist ataxia centre patients and €1813 for specialist ataxia centre patients (P = 0.59). In Italy these figures were €2126 and €1971, respectively (P = 0.84). In Germany they were €2431 and €4087, respectively (P = 0.19). Inpatient stays made the largest contribution to total costs. Conclusions Within each country, resource use and costs were broadly similar for specialist ataxia centre and non-specialist ataxia centre groups. There were differences between countries in terms of health care contacts and costs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:15:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-73a4cd848505400d97c064c0db95d331 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1750-1172 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T01:15:40Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-73a4cd848505400d97c064c0db95d3312023-12-10T12:31:27ZengBMCOrphanet Journal of Rare Diseases1750-11722023-12-011811810.1186/s13023-023-02971-4Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional surveyStephen Morris0Julie Vallortigara1Julie Greenfield2Barry Hunt3Deborah Hoffman4Carola Reinhard5Holm Graessner6Antonio Federico7Vinciane Quoidbach8Paola Giunti9Primary Care Unit, Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of CambridgeAtaxia Centre, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Department of Molecular and Movement Neurosciences, University College LondonAtaxia UKAtaxia UKTakeda PharmaceuticalsCentre for Rare Diseases and Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University Hospital TübingenCentre for Rare Diseases and Institute of Medical Genetics and Applied Genomics, University Hospital TübingenDepartment of Medicine, Surgery and Neurosciences, Medical School, University of SienaEuropean Brain CouncilAtaxia Centre, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Department of Molecular and Movement Neurosciences, University College LondonAbstract Background Little is known about the costs of treating ataxia and whether treatment at a specialist ataxia centre affects the cost of care. The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients who attended specialist ataxia centres in three European countries reported differences in their health care use and costs compared with patients who did not attend a specialist ataxia centre. We compared mean resource use and health service costs per patient affected by ataxia in the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany over a 12-month period. Data were obtained from a survey distributed to people with ataxia in the three countries. We compared mean resource use for each contact type and costs, stratifying patients by whether they were currently attending a specialist ataxia centre or had never attended one. Results Responses were received from 181 patients from the United Kingdom, 96 from Italy and 43 from Germany. Differences in the numbers of contacts for most types of health service use between the specialist ataxia centre and non-specialist ataxia centre groups were non-significant. In the United Kingdom the mean total cost per patient was €2209 for non-specialist ataxia centre patients and €1813 for specialist ataxia centre patients (P = 0.59). In Italy these figures were €2126 and €1971, respectively (P = 0.84). In Germany they were €2431 and €4087, respectively (P = 0.19). Inpatient stays made the largest contribution to total costs. Conclusions Within each country, resource use and costs were broadly similar for specialist ataxia centre and non-specialist ataxia centre groups. There were differences between countries in terms of health care contacts and costs.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-023-02971-4Health service useCostsAtaxiaSpecialist centre |
| spellingShingle | Stephen Morris Julie Vallortigara Julie Greenfield Barry Hunt Deborah Hoffman Carola Reinhard Holm Graessner Antonio Federico Vinciane Quoidbach Paola Giunti Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional survey Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases Health service use Costs Ataxia Specialist centre |
| title | Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional survey |
| title_full | Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional survey |
| title_fullStr | Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional survey |
| title_short | Impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across Europe: cross-sectional survey |
| title_sort | impact of specialist ataxia centres on health service resource utilisation and costs across europe cross sectional survey |
| topic | Health service use Costs Ataxia Specialist centre |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-023-02971-4 |
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