Families' costs form a considerable part of total costs in bronchiolitis care

The burden of bronchiolitis is remarkable due to high morbidity in infants. The aim of this study was to evaluate bronchiolitis-associated costs for patients' families and the healthcare system.

This retrospective, descriptive study included 136 infants under 12 months of age treated at Tampere University Hospital, Finland, between October 1, 2018 and March 31, 2020, with bronchiolitis as the main diagnosis. The data consists of patient background and medical information and of estimated costs for the families and for the healthcare system. The data were collected from the hospital's electronic patient files and registries and were analyzed with descriptive statistical analyzes using SPSS v. 26 software.

The total median costs associated with bronchiolitis from the perspective of families and healthcare were €16,205 per patient if intensive care was needed and €2266 per patient treated only on the ward. The median costs for the families were €461 and €244, respectively, and for the healthcare system, they were €15,644 and €2019.

The majority of the total costs for treatment were due to healthcare costs and only 10% of costs were targeted at families. Bronchiolitis-associated total median costs were 7.2 times higher and the families' costs were 1.9 times higher if intensive care was needed instead of treatment on the ward only.