Authors: Wilson, Leslie S.¹; Hensic, Lori²; Paoli, Carly J.¹; Basu, Rituparna¹; Christenson, Maria¹; Moskowitz, Judith T.³; Wara, Diane⁴

Source: AIDS Care, Volume 24, Number 1, 1 January 2012 , pp. 108-118(11)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to determine and compare the cost to treat HIV(+) and HIV(−) pediatric patients both before and after HIV prophylaxis became the standard of care. Retrospective chart review of a pediatric HIV/AIDS specialty clinic's medical charts was conducted for clinical and healthcare utilization data on 125 children diagnosed from 1986 to 2007. Mean HIV-related costs were compared using bootstrapped t-tests for children born in the pre-prophylaxis (1979-1993) and prophylaxis eras (1994-2007). Patients were also stratified into two categories based on death during the follow-up period. Lastly, national cost-savings were estimated using mean costs, national number of at-risk births, and national perinatal HIV transmission rates in each era. For HIV(+) children, mean annual per patient treatment cost was $15,067 (95% CI: $10,169-$19,965) in the pre-prophylaxis era (n = 40) and $14,959 (95% CI: $9140-$20,779) in the prophylaxis era (n = 14); difference not statistically significant (p > 0.05). For HIV(−) children, mean annual per patient treatment cost was $204 (95% CI: $219-$627) for the pre-prophylaxis era (n = 2) and $427 (95% CI: $277-$579) for the prophylaxis era (n = 69); difference statistically significant (p < 0.05). A projected cost-savings of $16-23 million annually in the USA was observed due to the adoption of prophylaxis treatment guidelines in pediatric HIV care. The prophylaxis era of pediatric HIV treatment has been successful in decreasing perinatal HIV transmission and mortality, as reflected by clinical trials and national cost-savings data, and emphasizes the value of the rapid adoption of evidence-based practice guidelines.

Keywords: HIV; AIDS; pediatric; cost; cost-savings; prophylaxis

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2011.592818

Affiliations: 1: Department of Clinical Pharmacy,University of California, San Francisco, USA 2: Department of Pharmacy Practice,Touro University, Vallejo, USA 3: OSHER Center for Integrative Medicine,University of California, San Francisco, USA 4: Department of Pediatric Immunology,University of California, San Francisco, USA

Publication date: 2012-01-01

More about this publication?

• Editorial Board
• Information for Authors
• Subscribe to this Title
• ingentaconnect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites

Related content

• In this: publication
• By this: publisher
• In this Subject: Allergy & Immunology ,  Public Health
• By this author: Wilson, Leslie S. ;  Hensic, Lori ;  Paoli, Carly J. ;  Basu, Rituparna ;  Christenson, Maria ;  Moskowitz, Judith T. ;  Wara, Diane

Website © Publishing Technology. Article copyright remains with the publisher, society or author(s) as specified within the article.

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Information for advertisers