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. 2024 Jul 18;6(9):100873.
doi: 10.1016/j.xkme.2024.100873. eCollection 2024 Sep.

Healthcare Costs Across Diabetic Kidney Disease Stages: A Veterans Affairs Study

Kibum Kim  1   2   3 , Jacob Crook  3   4 , Chao-Chin Lu  3 , Heather Nyman  2   3 , Jyotirmoy Sarker  1 , Richard Nelson  3   4 , Joanne LaFleur  2   3
Affiliations

Healthcare Costs Across Diabetic Kidney Disease Stages: A Veterans Affairs Study

Kibum Kim et al. Kidney Med. .

Abstract

Background: In the United States, diabetic kidney disease (DKD) affects about one-third of individuals with type 2 diabetes, causing significant economic burdens on the health care system and affecting patients' quality of life.

Objective: The aim of the study was to quantify the burden of care in patients at different stages of DKD and to monitor shifts in healthcare costs throughout these stages.

Methods: This study used data from the Veterans Affairs National database, focusing on US veterans diagnosed with DKD between January 2016 and March 2022. Aggregated all-cause health care costs per month were summarized using descriptive statistics. We used a generalized linear model to calculate the cost of DKD patent care based on the stages, dialysis phase, and kidney replacement therapy.

Results: The cohort of 685,288 patients with DKD was predominantly male (96.51%), White (74.42%), and non-Hispanic (93.54%). The mean (SD) per-patient per-month costs were $1,597 ($3,178), $1,772 ($4,269), $2,857 ($13,072), $3,722 ($12,134), $5,505 ($14,639), and $6,999 ($16,901) for stages 1, 2, 3a, 3b, 4 and 5 respectively. The average monthly expenditure for patients receiving long-term dialysis was $12,299. Costs peaked sharply during the first month of kidney replacement therapy at $38,359 but subsequently decreased to $6,636 after 1 year.

Conclusions: The economic implications of DKD are profound, emphasizing the need for efficient early detection and disease management strategies. Preventing patients from progressing to advanced DKD stage will minimize the economic repercussions of DKD and will assist health care systems in optimizing resource allocation.

Keywords: Diabetic kidney disease; KDIGO; Veterans Health Administration; disease burden; eGFR; health care cost.

Plain language summary

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) places a substantial burden on health care systems in the United States. In part of our effort to close the knowledge gap around the disease burden, care cost analysis for the patients with DKD was performed for US veterans. Along with stage progression, overall care costs per-patient per-month drastically increases from $1,597 (stage 1) to $6,999 (stage 5). Monthly costs exceeded $10,000 once veterans started to receive long-term dialysis. The quantitative summary will help health care systems efficiently allocate resources across various disease sectors.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Results from semi-parametric bootstrap cost estimation and 95% confidence intervals. Summary statistics are per-patient per-month costs calculated from generalized linear model using Gamma distribution of the data with a log-link function. Bar charts graphically present the cost estimate and 95% confidence interval from regression and semi-parametric bootstrap. DKD, diabetic kidney disease; KRT, kidney replacement therapy.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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