Table 2.

Direct, indirect, and total mean cost per patient at baseline (12 months before enrollment) and at 12-month follow-up

	Mean cost (euro) at baseline (12 months before enrollment) [95% CI]	Mean cost (euro) at 12-month follow-up [95% CI]	P-value
Direct costs	2,932.2 [2,643.1; 3,221.3]	2,460.4 [2,332.2; 2,588.6]	0.0001
Hospitalization costs	1,970.4 [968.0; 2,972.8]	1,569.7 [1,427.9; 1,711.5]	0.0001
Outpatient costs	463.2 [207.5; 718.9]	343.9 [255.1; 432.7]	0.0001
Pharmaceutical costs	498.6 [252.5; 744.7]	546.8 [503.8; 589.8]	ns
Indirect costs	358.5 [119.0; 598.0]	246.3 [189.5; 303.1]	0.001
Total costs	3,290.7 [2,539.9; 4,051.2]	2,706.7 [2,571.5; 2,841.9]	0.0001

Notes: The containment of both direct (mainly in terms of reduction in hospitalization and outpatient costs) and indirect costs contributed to the substantial drop in total costs due to COPD.

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ns, not significant.