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Newnham JP, Schilling C, Petrou S, et al. The health and educational costs of preterm birth to 18 years of age in Australia. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2021;doi: 10.1111/ajo.13405.
Newnham, J. P., Schilling, C., Petrou, S., Morris, J. M., Wallace, E. M., Brown, K., Edwards, L., Skubisz, M. M., White, S. W., Rynne, B., Arrese, C. A., & Doherty, D. A. (2021). The health and educational costs of preterm birth to 18 years of age in Australia. The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology, . https://doi.org/10.1111/ajo.13405
Newnham, John P, et al. "The health and educational costs of preterm birth to 18 years of age in Australia." The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology vol. (2021). doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/ajo.13405
Newnham JP, Schilling C, Petrou S, Morris JM, Wallace EM, Brown K, Edwards L, Skubisz MM, White SW, Rynne B, Arrese CA, Doherty DA. The health and educational costs of preterm birth to 18 years of age in Australia. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2021 Jul 15; doi: 10.1111/ajo.13405. Epub 2021 Jul 15. PMID: 34268727.
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Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 2021 Jul 15; doi: 10.1111/ajo.13405. Epub 2021 Jul 15.

The health and educational costs of preterm birth to 18 years of age in Australia.

The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology

John P Newnham, Chris Schilling, Stavros Petrou, Jonathan M Morris, Euan M Wallace, Kiarna Brown, Lindsay Edwards, Monika M Skubisz, Scott W White, Brendan Rynne, Catherine A Arrese, Dorota A Doherty

Affiliations

  1. Maternal Fetal Medicine Service, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
  2. Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
  3. Economics and Modelling, KPMG, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  4. Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
  5. Sydney Medical School - Northern, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  6. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  7. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  8. Safer Care Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
  9. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
  10. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
  11. Department of Obstetrics, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
  12. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

PMID: 34268727 DOI: 10.1111/ajo.13405

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth is the greatest cause of death up to five years of age and an important contributor to lifelong disability. There is increasing evidence that a meaningful proportion of early births may be prevented, but widespread introduction of effective preventive strategies will require financial support.

AIMS: This study estimated the economic cost to the Australian government of preterm birth, up to 18 years of age.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A decision-analytic model was developed to estimate the costs of preterm birth in Australia for a hypothetical cohort of 314 814 children, the number of live births in 2016. Costs to Australia's eight jurisdictions included medical expenditures and additional costs to educational services.

RESULTS: The total cost of preterm birth to the Australian government associated with the annual cohort was estimated at $1.413 billion (95% CI 1047-1781). Two-thirds of the costs were borne by healthcare services during the newborn period and one-quarter of the costs by educational services providing special assistance. For each child, the costs were highest for those born at the earliest survivable gestational age, but the larger numbers of children born at later gestational ages contributed heavily to the overall economic burden.

CONCLUSION: Preterm birth leaves many people with lifelong disabilities and generates a significant economic burden to society. The costs extend beyond those to the healthcare system and include additional educational needs. Assessments of economic costs should inform economic evaluations of interventions aimed at the prevention or treatment of preterm birth.

© 2021 The Authors. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Keywords: cost of illness; economic evaluation; health costs; preterm birth; prevention

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