title: Inpatient costs of fire-related injuries in Finland.
abstract: The aim of this study was to approximate the direct health care costs of fire-related injuries in inpatient care in Finland. Using the PERFECT costing method, cost data from both Finnish burn centres were linked to the fire-related injury patient data from the Finnish National Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR, 2001-2009). Additionally, a sample of 168 patients from the Helsinki Burn Centre was linked to the FHDR to examine the relation of %TBSA. Burn was involved in approximately 77% of the cases, the remainder consisting mainly of combustion gas poisonings. Burns were generally much more expensive to treat. Fire-related injuries incurred EUR 6.2 million per year in inpatient costs for the whole country. Mean cost per burn patient was EUR 25,000 and for combustion gas poisoning it was EUR 3600. As expected there was a strong relationship between %TBSA and cost. Older age had a strong effect on costs. The most severe injuries cost over EUR 400,000 to treat. Approximately 7-8% of the most expensive cases constitute 50% of the total costs. Successful prevention of extreme cases would yield considerable savings in relation to total annual inpatient care costs. However, a cost-benefit analysis would be needed.
authors.affiliation: Injury Prevention Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: kari.haikonen@thl.fi.
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Haikonen
authors.affiliation: Injury Prevention Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Pirjo M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Lillsunde
authors.affiliation: Helsinki Burn Centre, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jyrki
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vuola
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002053:Burn Units / Q000191:economics; D002056:Burns / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015208:Smoke Inhalation Injury / Q000191:economics; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Burden; Burn; Cost; Fire; Fire injury; Flame injury; Inpatient; Register-based