Age and Ageing 2004; 33: 230-235
Age and Ageing Vol. 33 No. 3 © British Geriatrics Society 2004; all rights reserved
Research Paper |
The cost of pressure ulcers in the UK
1 Barts and the London, Queen Mary’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK,*
2 School of Health Sciences, University of Birmingham and University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust, Nuffield House, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
3 University of York and Smith & Nephew Wound Management, Hull, UK
Address correspondence to: J. Posnett, Smith & Nephew Medical, PO Box 81, Hessle Rd, Hull HU3 2BN, UK. Fax: (+44) 1482 673307. Email: john.posnett{at}smith-nephew.com
Abstract
Objective: to estimate the annual cost of treating pressure ulcers in the UK.
Design: costs were derived from a bottom-up methodology, based on the daily resources required to deliver protocols of care reflecting good clinical practice.
Setting: health and social care system in the UK.
Subjects: patients developing a pressure ulcer.
Methods: a bottom-up costing approach is used to estimate treatment cost per episode of care and per patient for ulcers of different grades and level of complications. Also, total treatment cost to the health and social care system in the UK.
Results: the cost of treating a pressure ulcer varies from £1,064 (Grade 1) to £10,551 (Grade 4). Costs increase with ulcer grade because the time to heal is longer and because the incidence of complications is higher in more severe cases. The total cost in the UK is £1.4–£2.1 billion annually (4% of total NHS expenditure). Most of this cost is nurse time.
Conclusions: pressure ulcers represent a very significant cost burden in the UK. Without concerted effort this cost is likely to increase in the future as the population ages. To the extent that pressure ulcers are avoidable, pressure damage may be indicative of clinical negligence and there is evidence that litigation could soon become a significant threat to healthcare providers in the UK, as it is in the USA.
Keywords: pressure ulcers, cost, burden of illness, elderly
Received February 24, 2003; accepted in revised form September 15, 2003.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. N. Al-Ani, B. Samuelsson, J. Tidermark, A. Norling, W. Ekstrom, T. Cederholm, and M. Hedstrom Early Operation on Patients with a Hip Fracture Improved the Ability to Return to Independent Living. A Prospective Study of 850 Patients J. Bone Joint Surg. Am., July 1, 2008; 90(7): 1436 - 1442. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Iglesias, J. Nixon, G. Cranny, E A. Nelson, K. Hawkins, A. Phillips, D. Torgerson, S. Mason, N. Cullum, and PRESSURE Trial Group Pressure relieving support surfaces (PRESSURE) trial: cost effectiveness analysis BMJ, June 17, 2006; 332(7555): 1416. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|