Levels of glycosylated hemoglobin and the difference in the cost of health care for diabetic patients: An econometric study Niveles de hemoglobina glicosilada y diferencia en el gasto en salud de pacientes diabéticos: Un estudio econométrico

Abstract

© 2014, Sociedad Medica de Santiago. All rights reserved.Background: Complications increase treatment costs of diabetes mellitus (DM). An adequate metabolic control of the disease could reduce these costs. Aim: To evaluate the costs of medical care for a cohort of patients with DM, according to their degree of metabolic compensation. Material and Methods: All diabetic patients attended in a regional hospital from 2005 to 2010 were analyzed. A correlational study between costs of individual healthcare and levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), was performed in a series of annual cross-sectional measurements. Results: The study comprised 1,644 diabetic patients. During the study period the average cost of healthcare per patient increased from $878,000 to more than $1,000,000 Chilean pesos (CLP) during the study period. The percentage of patients with HbA1c levels below 7.0% varied between 43.0% and 54.9%. Costs for patients with HbA1c levels between 7 and 8.9% were 1.3 to 1.5 times g