Economics of Hospitalization and Medication Therapy for Old COVID-19 Patients; an Experience from a Tertiary Center in Iran

There are controversies about the expenditures imposed on surveillance in the treatment of elderly patients and patients with end-stage disease. The present health economic evaluation study was performed to find the cost-effectiveness of hospitalization and antiviral treatment of COVID-19 in elderly patients.
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A health economic evaluation as a single-center primary study with a cross-sectional design was performed in Firoozgar Hospital, Tehran, Iran, in 2022. All the hospitalized cases of COVID-19 at 65 years of age and more were eligible for the study. The health outcomes were the length of stay and death. Cost-effectiveness was calculated using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. Stata14 was used for data analysis.

Of the admitted patients, 347 cases over 65 were selected for the study. 173 patients (49.86%) were in the age range of 65-74, 69 patients (31.41%) were in the age range of 75-84, and 65 patients (18.73%) were 85 and more. One hundred ninety-nine patients (57.35%) survived, and 148 patients (42.65%) died. The mean of LoS was 11.40±7.01 days, with the mean at the ward being 5.24±5.44 days and at the ICU 6.15±6.94 days. The mean cost of a bed day was 35.41±32.03 dollars, with a right-skewed distribution.

A mean cost of 88.711$ is needed for the survival of one patient, assuming that all the ICU-needed patients would die if there was a lack of hospital admission. Considering all ward and ICU admitted patients, 44.854$ is needed to save one old patient's life, assuming this logic.