Cost analysis of home parenteral nutrition in Spain

Introduction: Home parenteral nutrition (HPN) improves quality of life, allowing patients to receive nutrition at home and providing a social and labor integration to these patients. Objective: To assess the direct costs of HPN in adult population in Spain. Methods: A literature review of the records of HPN in Spain, carry out by NADYA-SENPE Group (years 2007-2014), was performed. The analysis included the evolution of: patients requiring HPN, number of episodes/patient, mean duration of episodes, description of delivery routes and complications rate. HPN consumption and cost were estimated. Patients were grouped according to their pathological group: benign and malignant. Direct costs (€, 2015) included were: parenteral nutrition bags, delivery sets and costs due to complications. Results: The number of patients who receive HPN has increased over years (2007: 133 patients; 2014: 220 patients). The average number of episodes per patient ranged from 1-2 episodes per year. The average duration of those episodes decreased (2007: 323 days; 2014: 202.8 days). Tunneled catheters were the most used and septic complications were the most common. The average annual cost per patient was estimated at € 8,393.30 and € 9,261.60 for benign and malign disease respectively. Considering that 220 patients required HPN in 2014, an annual cost of € 1,846.524.96 (€ 1,389,910.55 directly due to HPN) and € 2,037,551.90 (€ 1,580,937.50 directly due to HPN) was estimated for patients with benign and malignant pathologies respectively. Conclusions: These results can be used to develop future economic evaluations on HPN and to establish effi cient prioritization strategies to allocate available resources.