Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 5;21(1):121.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-021-06098-9.

Cost burden and net monetary benefit loss of neonatal hypoglycaemia

Matthew J Glasgow  1 , Richard Edlin  2 , Jane E Harding  3
Affiliations

Cost burden and net monetary benefit loss of neonatal hypoglycaemia

Matthew J Glasgow et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: Neonatal hypoglycaemia is a common but treatable metabolic disorder that affects newborn infants and which, if not identified and treated adequately, may result in neurological sequelae that persist for the lifetime of the patient. The long-term financial and quality-of-life burden of neonatal hypoglycaemia has not been previously examined.

Methods: We assessed the postnatal hospital and long-term costs associated with neonatal hypoglycaemia over 80 year and 18 year time horizons, using a health-system perspective and assessing impact on quality of life using quality-adjusted life year (QALYs). A decision analytic model was used to represent key outcomes in the presence and absence of neonatal hypoglycaemia.

Results: The chance of developing one of the outcomes of neonatal hypoglycaemia in our model (cerebral palsy, learning disabilities, seizures, vision disorders) was 24.03% in subjects who experienced neonatal hypoglycaemia and 3.56% in those who do did not. Over an 80 year time horizon a subject who experienced neonatal hypoglycaemia had a combined hospital and post-discharge cost of NZ$72,000 due to the outcomes modelled, which is NZ$66,000 greater than a subject without neonatal hypoglycaemia. The net monetary benefit lost due to neonatal hypoglycaemia, using a value per QALY of NZ$43,000, is NZ$180,000 over an 80 year time horizon.

Conclusions: Even under the most conservative of estimates, neonatal hypoglycaemia contributes a significant financial burden to the health system both during childhood and over a lifetime. The combination of direct costs and loss of quality of life due to neonatal hypoglycaemia means that this condition warrants further research to focus on prevention and effective treatment.

Keywords: Cerebral palsy; Epilepsy; Learning disorder; Newborn infant; Vision disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Author Richard Edlin is an editorial board member. The authors declare that they have no other competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of cost difference between hypoglycaemia and controls (80 year time horizon)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Decumulative probability of NMB distribution, displaying probability that NMB loss exceeds an assigned value per case of neonatal hypoglycaemia
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Lucas A, Morley R, Cole TJ. Adverse neurodevelopmental outcome of moderate neonatal hypoglycaemia. BMJ. 1988;297:1304–1308. doi: 10.1136/bmj.297.6659.1304. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Harris DL, Weston PJ, Harding JE. Incidence of neonatal hypoglycemia in babies identified as at risk. J Pediatr. 2012;161:787–791. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.05.022. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hay WW, Jr, Raju TN, Higgins RD, Kalhan SC, Devaskar SU. Knowledge gaps and research needs for understanding and treating neonatal hypoglycemia: workshop report from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. J Pediatr. 2009;155:612–617. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.06.044. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cornblath M, Schwartz R, Aynsley-Green A, Lloyd JK. Hypoglycemia in infancy: the need for a rational definition. A Ciba Foundation discussion meeting. Pediatrics. 1990;85:834–837. - PubMed
    1. Boluyt N, van Kempen A, Offringa M. Neurodevelopment after neonatal hypoglycemia: a systematic review and design of an optimal future study. Pediatrics. 2006;117:2231–2243. doi: 10.1542/peds.2005-1919. - DOI - PubMed