Lower respiratory tract infection: a case-control study about direct economic losses.

OBJECTIVE To understand the direct economic loss caused by the lower respiratory tract infection.METHODS A retrospective 1∶1 case-control study on patients was performed.RESULTS The average hospitalization cost in case group was 827.62 yuan per day vs 428.09 yuan per day in control group.The cost of case group was significantly higher than that of control group(P0.01).The direct additional cost caused by the lower respiratory tract infection was 399.53 yuan.The average hospitalization time in case group was 30.59 days vs 12.70 days in control group.There was significant difference between the two groups(P0.01).The additional hospitalization time caused by the lower respiratory tract infection averaged 17.89 days.The economic loss due to respiratory tract infections varied with departments and diseases.CONCLUSIONS The direct economic loss caused by lower respiratory tract infection is huge.The effective prevention and regulation are the key measures of controlling respiratory tract infection and reducing the economic burden of patients and hospitals.