Greater levels of intervention in how babies are born and being born early are thought to be associated with poor health outcomes in children. Poorer health outcomes are themselves associated with increased healthcare costs; however, there is currently little evidence on the types of healthcare in which these additional costs fall, and the size of these additional costs. We aim to investigate whether the method of delivery and preterm or early term birth result in greater healthcare costs and, if so, where those additional costs are incurred in the health care services, the magnitude of those costs and their trajectory over time.
We will select a group of children from routinely collected GP medical records to investigate whether their method of delivery and being born preterm influenced the cost of different forms of healthcare in childhood. This will provide important information that will be useful as a spur for planning future studies on childhood health in the UK. By more accurately estimating extra costs from different methods of delivery and being born early, this study will also inform more accurate budget planning for healthcare services, which may save costs, and help inform other evaluations of healthcare services.
Modes of delivery other than spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) and being born preterm or early term are hypothesised to be associated with poorer health outcomes in children. It is known that children who have adverse health outcomes also have increased healthcare costs; however, there is currently scant evidence on which areas of healthcare these costs fall and the magnitude and trajectory of these costs. Our objective is to investigate whether mode of birth other than SVD and being born preterm or early term result in greater healthcare costs and, if so, how those additional costs are distributed across different health care services and at different stages of childhood.
We will use Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) linked with Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) data in the UK in children to investigate whether their mode of delivery and being born preterm or early term are associated with increased healthcare costs, accounting for the effects of their mothers health before and during pregnancy, which may have led to a particular mode of birth or early delivery. This will provide data that will comprehensively quantify the economic impact of mode of birth and preterm or early term birth on primary and secondary care services, and should inform future studies on the economic costs of adverse childhood health outcomes in the UK.
Overall healthcare utilisation
- Mode of delivery
- Prematurity
- NHS reference costs
Timothy Coleman - Chief Investigator - University of Nottingham
Laila Tata - Corresponding Applicant - University of Nottingham
Linda Fiaschi - Collaborator - University of Nottingham
Luis Vaz - Collaborator - University of Nottingham
Ravinder Claire - Collaborator - University of Nottingham
Stavros Petrou - Collaborator - University of Warwick
Luis Vaz - Chief Investigator - University of Nottingham
Luis Vaz - Corresponding Applicant - University of Nottingham
CPRD Mother-Baby Link;HES Accident and Emergency;HES Admitted Patient Care;HES Diagnostic Imaging Dataset;HES Outpatient;ONS Death Registration Data;Patient Level Index of Multiple Deprivation;Practice Level Index of Multiple Deprivation;Pregnancy Register