Profile and cost of head injury patients admitted to the Waikato Hospital Intensive Care Unit

AIMS: To examine the profile and hospital costs of head injury patients admitted to the Waikato Hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU). METHODS: Data were collected on head injury patients admitted to ICU over 41 months and costs of head injury patients in ICU, the High Dependency Unit (HDU) and other wards were calculated. RESULTS: There were 286 head injury patients admitted to ICU, of whom 62% had a Glasgow Coma Score < or = 8. Times in the ICU and hospital were 1760 and 7352 days respectively. Costs per day were $2280 in ICU, $800 in HDU and $500 in other wards. The cost for ICU was $1,174,478 per year, and for the total hospital treatment, $2.05 million (83 head injury patients) per year. Admissions of head injury patients to all New Zealand ICUs were 777 over the year to June 1996. Thus, assuming similar costs to the Waikato Hospital, New Zealand hospitals spend each year approximately 10.9 million dollars on head injury patients in ICUs and 19 million dollars on overall hospital stays (including ICU). In a selected group of 123 severe head injury patients, the six month Glasgow Outcome Scores showed that 36% were in the moderate to severe disability categories and likely to cause major ongoing ACC costs. The costs of the 80% of head injury patients admitted to hospital but not admitted to ICU, and their prehospital and postdischarge costs were not studied. CONCLUSIONS: The New Zealand epidemic of head injuries continues to consume large amounts of the health money and produce major social costs.