Healthcare Costs of Lyme Disease in Germany
Author Information
Author(s): Gordon Brestrich, Joanna Diesing, Nils Kossack, James H. Stark, Andreas Pilz, Holly Yu, Jochen Suess
Primary Institution: Pfizer Pharma GmbH
Hypothesis
What are the healthcare costs and resource utilization associated with Lyme borreliosis in Germany?
Conclusion
The study shows that Lyme borreliosis imposes a substantial economic burden on the German healthcare system.
Supporting Evidence
- Patients with disseminated Lyme disease incurred significantly higher healthcare costs compared to controls.
- Lyme borreliosis was associated with €64.5 million in excess costs for the German healthcare system.
- Disseminated manifestations accounted for 66% of the overall excess costs despite being only 7.8% of all cases.
Takeaway
Lyme disease costs a lot of money for doctors and hospitals in Germany, especially for people with serious cases.
Methodology
The study used claims data from a database to identify patients with Lyme disease and matched them with control patients to assess healthcare costs and resource utilization over three years.
Potential Biases
Potential coding inaccuracies could lead to misclassification of Lyme disease cases.
Limitations
The study may have residual confounding due to unmeasured variables and did not include indirect costs.
Participant Demographics
Patients of all ages with statutory health insurance in Germany were included.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.001
Confidence Interval
95% CI: 53.5–75.6 million
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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