An economic analysis of the cost of survival of micro preemies: A systematic review

Evelyn Lee, Deborah Schofield, Christopher E. L. Owens, Ju-Lee Oei

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Objective: This study aimed to systematically review the current literature on the economic costs of micro preemie as well as evidence on the cost-effectiveness of interventions to improve outcomes for micro preemie babies with a birth weight of ≤500 g.

    Method: We searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, ECONLIT, Business Source Premier and Cochrane Library for studies reporting costs of micro preemie from January 2000. Costs were inflated to 2019 United States dollars (US$). All full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and a quality assessment of included articles was conducted using the Drummond and the Larg and Moss checklists.

    Results: The search identified three studies that met the inclusion criteria; two cost-of-illness studies and one cost-effectiveness study. Across studies, the mean healthcare spending per micro preemie survivor (in 2019 US$) ranged from US$61,310 (birth admission) to US$263,958 (inpatient and outpatient for the first six months of life). One modelling study reported exclusive human milk diet for micro preemies at birth was more cost-effective compared to the standard approach with cow milk diet from the third-party payer and societal perspectives.

    Conclusion: Despite significant advances in perinatal care and expanded access to life-saving equipment to improve survival outcomes of micro preemie, there remains a paucity of research on economic costs associated with these babies. No study has utilised quality-adjusted life-years as an outcome measure. Given the chronic conditions and long-term neurologic disability associated with micro preemie survivors, an estimate of the lifetime cost to the individual, healthcare providers and society would provide a benchmark of the potential cost-savings that could accrue from cost-effective interventions to improve the survival rate of micro preemies.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number101336
    Pages (from-to)1-6
    Number of pages6
    JournalSeminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine
    Volume27
    Issue number3
    Early online date9 Apr 2022
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Jun 2022

    Keywords

    • Micro preemie
    • Pre viable
    • Cost
    • Low birth weight
    • Systematic review

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