Annual Costs of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in New Zealand

Abstract

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) has been regarded as part of the normal aging process in men and little attention has been focused on the cost of the disease in New Zealand. The purpose of this study was to estimate the direct and indirect costs of treating BPH in both the public and the private sectors in New Zealand. The costs of treatment were estimated from public and private hospital data on admissions for BPH, obtained from the New Zealand Department of Health, medical insurance reimbursement schedules, hospital ward costs at one centre, and urology and general practitioner consultation fees. The length of time spent off work, as a measure of indirect costs, during urological investigations or treatment was estimated from interviews with urologists. The annual 1991 total direct medical costs of treated BPH as primary diagnosis in New Zealand were estimated at $NZ16 million (the average of the end-month mid-point exchange rate for the first quarter of 1992 was $US0.5457 per $NZ1), and the costs of lost production plus loss of leisure time by patients was estimated at $NZ4 million (1992 dollars). Patients with a principal diagnosis of BPH stayed on average 8.9 days in a public hospital and 4.6 days in a private hospital. Based on the above costs, if the average length of stay of public hospital patients could be reduced to that of private hospital patients, then hospital ward costs for BPH could fall by 37% and the total direct medical costs by 21%. The most commonly performed surgical operation for BPH was transurethral prostatectomy (TURP). For operations performed in a public hospital, patients stayed on average 8.5 days, while patients whose operations were performed in private hospitals stayed 4.3 days. The mean age of these public hospital patients was 71 years compared with 67 years for those in private hospitals. A complication rate of 2.02% was recorded for TURP in public hospitals but audits (conducted by the researchers) in both public and private settings indicated that the complication rate was substantially under-recorded.

Healthcare utilization and costs in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia: a population-based study

“…One study reported that total medical expenditures with BPH were US$776 million in the United States in the year of 2000 2. Another study reported that the annual cost of treating BPH in New Zealand was about US$8.73 million 3. In addition, Saigal and Joyce4 indicated that the annual spending for BPH was US$5729 per person-year for patients aged 45–64 years.…”

Evaluating diagnostic and treatment modalities in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia in the Veterans Administration population

“…Currently, there are no empiric studies assessing the economic impact of BPH in the U.S. or in a specific population such as VA. Totally there have been three cost of illness studies in literature, one in UK, one in Sweden and one in New Zealand (Scott & Scott, 1993;Drummond, Mcguire, Black, Petticrew & McPherson, 1993;Ahlstrand, Carlsson & Jonsson, 1995). However, only one of these studies estimated the cost of diagnosis for BPH (in New Zealand).…”

Economic Evaluation Applied to Health Policy in New Zealand

“…ll Guy Scou (2001) If Iloprost is adnrinistered for 20 days at a pharmaceutical cost o [$ I 85 per day in a hospital setting at a rvard cost of $330 per day (Scott and Scott, 1993) the total medical cost per patient would be $ 10,300 compared with a cost of $ 19,020 (procedure method) per critical leg ischaenria patient undergoing an amputation. Medical cost savings per amputation avoided were $8,720.…”