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. 2023 Nov 20;24(1):245.
doi: 10.1186/s12875-023-02196-1.

The cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data

Jake Tufts  1 , Naijie Guan  2 , Dawit T Zemedikun  3 , Anuradhaa Subramanian  4 , Krishna Gokhale  4 , Puja Myles  5 , Tim Williams  5 , Tom Marshall  4 , Melanie Calvert  4   6   7   8   9 , Karen Matthews  10 , Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar  4 , Louise J Jackson #  4 , Shamil Haroon #  4
Affiliations

The cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data

Jake Tufts et al. BMC Prim Care. .

Abstract

Background: The economic impact of managing long COVID in primary care is unknown. We estimated the costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID and explored the relationship between risk factors and costs.

Methods: Data were obtained on non-hospitalised adults from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum primary care database. We used propensity score matching with an incremental cost method to estimate additional primary care consultation costs associated with long COVID (12 weeks after COVID-19) at an individual and UK national level. We applied multivariable regression models to estimate the association between risk factors and consultations costs beyond 12 weeks from acute COVID-19.

Results: Based on an analysis of 472,173 patients with COVID-19 and 472,173 unexposed individuals, the annual incremental cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID was £2.44 per patient and £23,382,452 at the national level. Among patients with COVID-19, a long COVID diagnosis and reporting of longer-term symptoms were associated with a 43% and 44% increase in primary care consultation costs respectively, compared to patients without long COVID symptoms. Older age, female sex, obesity, being from a white ethnic group, comorbidities and prior consultation frequency were all associated with increased primary care consultation costs.

Conclusions: The costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults are substantial. Costs are significantly higher among those diagnosed with long COVID, those with long COVID symptoms, older adults, females, and those with obesity and comorbidities.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cost; Economic; Long COVID; Primary care.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: JT has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. DTZ has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. AS has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. NG has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. KG has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. KN has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. LJ has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. SH receives research funding from the NIHR and UKRI. PM has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. TM has no relevant conflicts of interest to declare. TW has not relevant conflicts of interest. KM has no relevant conflicts of interest. MJC is director of the Birmingham Health Partners Centre for Regulatory Science and Innovation and director of the Centre for Patient Reported Outcomes Research and is an NIHR senior investigator. MJC receives funding from the NIHR, UKRI, NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, NIHR Surgical Reconstruction and Microbiology Research Centre, NIHR ARC West Midlands, NIHR Oxford-Birmingham Blood and Transplant Research Unit in Precision and Cellular Therapeutics, UK SPINE, European Regional Development Fund-Demand Hub and Health Data Research UK at the University of Birmingham and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Innovate UK (part of UKRI), Macmillan Cancer Support, UCB Pharma, Janssen, GlaxoSmithKline, and Gilead. MJC has received personal fees from Astellas, Aparito, CIS Oncology, Takeda, Merck, Daiichi Sankyo, Glaukos, GlaxoSmithKline, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute outside the submitted work. In addition, a family member owns shares in GlaxoSmithKline.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Bubble plot showing the average cost of each healthcare professional per patient (who had a consultation) between 15th April 2020 and 15th April 2021. Bar chart to show the percentage makeup of each group’s total costs by healthcare professional
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Bubble plot to show the average cost of each consultation type per patient (who had a consultation) between 15th April 2020 and 15th April 2021. Bar chart to show the percentage makeup of each group's total costs by consultation type
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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