Short and long-term costs among women experiencing preterm labour or preterm birth: the German experience

Table 2 Resource use and costs during pregnancy among PTL/PTB Mothers

	Resource use	Direct Medical Cost (Euros)
	N with at least one use (%)	Mean	Median (IQR)
Outpatient care		1066	984 (752–1274)
GP visit (in at least one quarter)	1330 (62.0)	75	35 (0–106)
Gynaecologist visit (in at least one quarter)	1841 (85.8)	616	619 (409–815)
Specialist^a visit (in at least one quarter)	2014 (93.8)	375	188 (96–480)
Laboratory test	2125 (99.0)	61	34 (14–73)
Diagnostic test	1649 (76.8)	45	17 (3–48)
Pregnancy/labour procedure	2131 (99.3)	675	638 (501–818)
Therapeutic procedure^b	924 (43.0)	41	0 (0–15)
Preventive procedure^b	2103 (98.0)	24	30 (7–33)
Basic procedure^b	2136 (99.5)	221	183 (110–285)
Prescribed medications	1590 (74.1)	188	36 (12–107)
Inpatient care^c		1084	0 (0–1483)
All-cause hospitalisation	1030 (48.0)
Pregnancy procedure	9 (0.4)
Diagnostic test	62 (2.9)
Therapeutic procedure	115 (5.4)
Other services^d		587	398 (42–817)
Remedies	99 (4.6)	6	0 (0–0)
Medical devices	537 (25.0)	29	0 (0–0)
Midwife services	1126 (52.5)	335	43 (0–540)
Driving services	482 (22.5)	128	0 (0–0)
Other	575 (26.8)	89	0 (0–16)
Total Costs		2925	2130 (1280–3594)

Including zero costs (insurant without resource)
^aSpecialist visit is defined as any physician group excluding GP and gynaecologist
^bExamples of therapeutic procedures: Infusion, substitute assisted treatment for opiate addicts, verbal intervention in psychosomatic disease states; examples of preventative procedures: basic services for specialists, cytological examination (cancer screening), examination for early detection of cancer in women; examples of basic procedures include: personal physician-patient contact, shipping for materials, transport and transfer results, charge for dispatch of transport letters/ written materials
^cCosts for each individual resource was not available, as costs were estimated based on DRG codes
^dNote that other services include: Remedies (e.g., physiotherapy, massage, manual therapy, occupational therapy); Medical devices (e.g., measurement devices, medical devices, inhalation devices); Midwife services (e.g., antenatal preparation, home visits after birth); Driving services (e.g., ambulance service, patient transportation); Other (e.g., household help, home care necessary for medical treatment)
Abbreviations: GP general practitioner; IQR interquartile range, PTB preterm birth, PTL preterm labour

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