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Point prevalence of wounds and cost impact in the acute and community setting in Denmark

2013; Mark Allen Group; Volume: 22; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.12968/jowc.2013.22.8.413

2052-2916

Finn Gottrup, E W Henneberg, R. Trangbæk, N. Bækmark, K.-P. Zollner, Jens Ahm Sørensen,

Diagnosis and Treatment of Venous Diseases

• Objective: To estimate the wound-care related costs in two hospitals in Denmark. • Method: A point-prevalence survey with a focus on resource consumption was carried out during a representative 1-week period in March 2010, in two hospitals in Denmark: Regional Hospital viborg, in the Viborg Municipality and Hillerød Hospital, in the Hørsholm Municipality. Data were collected during a 2-day period for inpatients and outpatients in the hospitals and over a full week in the municipalities. The survey included information on the numbers, types and locations of the wounds, as well as resource consumption related to dressing changes. The estimation of costs was based on representative cost levels, including the salaries of health professionals or nurses and the cost of dressings and hospitalisation provided. • Results: In total, 33% (n=830) of inpatients had a wound. The majority of these were surgical/trauma wounds (25%), while pressure ulcers, leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers accounted for 3.3%, 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively. In the municipalities, there was a wound patient prevalence of 2.8 per 1000 population (1/1000 acute wounds, 0.7/1000 pressure ulcers, 0.5/1000 leg ulcers and 0.3/1000 diabetic foot ulcers). The extrapolated figures for nurse time related to wound care per year was equivalent to 10 full-time nurse positions in Hillerød Hospital, three in Viborg Hospital, 17 in Viborg Municipality and three in Hørsholm Municipality. The total annual costs related to wound care was estimated as €3.6 million for Viborg Hospital, €4.1 million for Hillerød Hospital, €1.2 million for Viborg Municipality and €232 548 for Hørsholm Municipality, accounting for approximately 1.8% (Viborg), 1.6% (Hillerød), 2.4% (Viborg) and 1.5% (Hørsholm) of the total annual budgets. • Conclusion: In the survey, 33% of the patients treated in the hospitals had a wound. Primary costs were defined as hospitalisation costs and nurse time related to dressing changes. Total annual costs of treatment, including hospitalisation, were estimated as approximately 1.6–1.8% for the hospitals and 1.5–2.4% for the municipalities. The level of costs support the relevance of increased efforts to secure better wound prevention and treatment to reduce the staff-time consumption and hospitalisation costs. • Declaration of interest: This survey was initiated by the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) and Danish Wound Healing Society (DWHS). It was supported by unrestricted grants from ConvaTec, Mölnlycke Healthcare, KCI and Smith & Nephew. The authors have no commercial or social conflicts of interest with respect to the article or its content.