The economic costs of disease related malnutrition.
OBJECTIVE
Disease related malnutrition (under-nutrition caused by illness) is a worldwide problem in all health care settings with potentially serious consequences on a physical as well as a psycho-social level. In the European Union countries about 20 million patients are affected by disease related malnutrition, costing EU governments up to € 120 billion annually. The aim of this study is to calculate the total additional costs of disease related malnutrition in The Netherlands.


METHODS
A cost-of-illness analysis was used to calculate the additional total costs of disease related malnutrition in adults (>18 years of age) for The Netherlands in 2011 in the hospital, nursing- and residential home and home care setting, expressed as an absolute monetary value as well as a percentage of the total Dutch national health expenditure and as a percentage of the total costs of the studied health care sectors in The Netherlands.


RESULTS
The total additional costs of managing adult patients with disease related malnutrition were estimated to be € 1.9 billion in 2011 which equals 2.1% of the total Dutch national health expenditure and 4.9% of the total costs of the health care sectors analyzed in this study.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study show that the additional costs of disease related malnutrition in adults in The Netherlands are considerable.
CAPHRI Maastricht University, p/a P.O. Box 445, 2700 AK Zoetermeer, The Netherlands. k.freyer@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Karen
K
Freijer
Siok Swan
SS
Tan
Marc A
MA
Koopmanschap
Judith M M
JM
Meijers
Ruud J G
RJ
Halfens
Mark J C
MJ
Nuijten
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002100:Cachexia / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006699:Home Care Services; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D017722:Hospital Charges; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D009735:Nursing Homes; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult