Table 2.
Estimated mean ambulatory cost per patient, expressed in 2019 euros, for the different manifestation groups of Lyme borreliosis in the prospective cohort study (HUMTICK), 2016─2020, Belgium. Mean and 95% uncertainty intervals of the bootstrap distribution of the mean
| Unit cost | (i) Erythema migrans | (ii) Disseminated/late LB | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No PTLDS | PTLDS | All | No PTLDS | PTLDS | All | ||
| Nb pts in cohort | 102 | 6 | 108 | 12 | 3 | 15 | |
| Direct medical costs | |||||||
| Total | €118 (85.7–162)a | €214 (87.7–382)a | €124 (90.3–165)a | €524 (327–787) | €478 (262–723) | €516 (350–731) | |
| Consultations | €61.5 (41.1–89.1) | €91.6 (39.4–146) | €63.1 (43.1–89.1) | €352 (255–452) | €283 (85.3–382) | €338 (252–426) | |
| GP | €26.3 | €40.6 (34.8–47.6) | €47.9 (30.6–65.7) | €41 (35.3–47.6) | €105 (72.2–142) | €105 (0–158) | €105 (73.6–139) |
| Specialistb | €26.3–60.0 | €11.4 (2.5–23.9) | €15.4 (0–46.5) | €11.6 (3–23.4) | €144 (107–186) | €115 (85.3–140) | €138 (109–173) |
| Emergencyc | €34.9 | €0 (0–0) | €0 (0–0) | €0 (0–0) | €26.2 (14.5–37.8) | €46.4 (0–105) | €30.4 (16.3–44.2) |
| Alternatived | €50 | €5.4 (0.5–13.2) | €16.9 (0–50) | €6.1 (0.9–13.9) | €45.9 (12.5–87.5) | €16.7 (0–50) | €40.1 (13.3–73.3) |
| Otherse | €22.3–60.0 | €4.1 (0–11.7) | €11.3 (0–33.4) | €4.5 (0–12.3) | €30.5 (0–63.8) | €0 (0–0) | €24.3 (0–52.5) |
| Medication | €39 (26.4–55.1) | €106 (26.6–227) | €42.8 (28.9–59.4) | €159 (51.9–346) | €175 (65.8–341) | €163 (66.2–315) | |
| Antibiotics at T0 | €19.5 (17.9–21.1) | €15.1 (12–18.3) | €19.2 (17.7–20.8) | €11.4 (2.9–21.7) | €24.9 (0–41.2) | €14 (5–23.3) | |
| Prescription | €4.2 (0.3–11.2) | €10.7 (0–27.3) | €4.5 (0.6–11.6) | €26.1 (12.9–39.9) | €46.5 (13.4–75.8) | €30.2 (17.4–43.6) | |
| Over the counter | €15.4 (4.6–29.3) | €80.6 (8.9–202) | €19.1 (6.9–34.3) | €122 (18.6–306) | €104 (0–294) | €119 (22.7–273) | |
| LB serology | €16.3 (13.9–18.7)f | €16.3 (13.9–18.7)f | €16.3 (13.9–18.7)f | €9.8 (0–24.2)g | €19.8 (0–59.4)g | €11.6 (0–23.6)g | |
| Otherh | €1.5 (0–3.9) | €0 (0–0) | €1.4 (0–3.7) | €3.3 (0–10) | €0 (0–0) | €2.7 (0–8) | |
| Indirect non-medical costs | |||||||
| Ambulatoryi | €40.5/hr | €62.7 (6–145) | €70.5 (0–213) | €63.9 (7.1–141) | €2,432 (286–5,724) | €3,341 (0–5,604) | €2,624 (708–5,345) |
Nb Number, LB Lyme borreliosis, PTLDS Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, SGP sentinel general practices, GP General practitioner, EM Erythema migrans
aThe bootstrapped means of the total direct medical costs in the cohort study was summed with the bootstrapped means of LB serology in SGP data 2015─2017 and the resulting distribution summarized by the mean and 95% uncertainty interval
bNeurologist, rheumatologist, infectious disease specialist, dermatologist, gastroenterologist, orthopedist, radiologist (consult + forfait by prescription)
cVisit and care included only (no medication/performances); price visit without referral by a GP, on a weekday and care provided by a specialist in emergency medicine
dHomeopath, osteopath, chiropractor
ePhysiotherapist, psychologist
fBased on SGP data 2015─2017: at diagnosis or in the first 2 months after, ELISA (1st tier test) was performed in 39.7% and Immunoblot (2nd tier test) in 19.0% of EM cases with available information (n = 348), no differentiation could be made between patients without or with PTLDS
gOnly includes testing performed in patients that were not hospitalized and did not have Lyme neuroborreliosis (n = 3), as the latter needs cerebrospinal fluid testing, all tests in these patients and hospitalized patients were expected to be performed during (day-)hospitalization
hScans: CT-scan, MRI or echo in ambulatory patient
iProductivity losses taking into account part-time work in the cohorts