The cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data

Jake Tufts; Naijie Guan; Dawit T Zemedikun; Anuradhaa Subramanian; Krishna Gokhale; Puja Myles; Tim Williams; Tom Marshall; Melanie Calvert; Karen Matthews; Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar; Louise J Jackson; Shamil Haroon

doi:10.1186/s12875-023-02196-1

The cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data

Jake Tufts, Naijie Guan^*, Dawit T Zemedikun, Anuradhaa Subramanian, Krishna Gokhale, Puja Myles, Tim Williams, Tom Marshall, Melanie Calvert, Karen Matthews, Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar, Louise J Jackson, Shamil Haroon

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Background: The economic impact of managing long COVID in primary care is unknown. We estimated the costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID and explored the relationship between risk factors and costs.

Methods: Data were obtained on non-hospitalised adults from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum primary care database. We used propensity score matching with an incremental cost method to estimate additional primary care consultation costs associated with long COVID (12 weeks after COVID-19) at an individual and UK national level. We applied multivariable regression models to estimate the association between risk factors and consultations costs beyond 12 weeks from acute COVID-19.

Results: Based on an analysis of 472,173 patients with COVID-19 and 472,173 unexposed individuals, the annual incremental cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID was £2.44 per patient and £23,382,452 at the national level. Among patients with COVID-19, a long COVID diagnosis and reporting of longer-term symptoms were associated with a 43% and 44% increase in primary care consultation costs respectively, compared to patients without long COVID symptoms. Older age, female sex, obesity, being from a white ethnic group, comorbidities and prior consultation frequency were all associated with increased primary care consultation costs.

Conclusions: The costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults are substantial. Costs are significantly higher among those diagnosed with long COVID, those with long COVID symptoms, older adults, females, and those with obesity and comorbidities.

Original language	English
Article number	245
Number of pages	12
Journal	BMC Primary Care
Volume	24
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-023-02196-1
Publication status	Published - 20 Nov 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding:
This work is independent research jointly funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (Therapies for Long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals: From symptoms, patient reported outcomes and immunology to targeted therapies (The TLC Study), COV-LT-0013). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care or UKRI.

Keywords

COVID-19
Long COVID
Primary care
Cost
Economic

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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TuftsJ2023costFinal published version, 977 KBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Therapies for Long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals: From symptoms, patient-reported outcomes and immunology to targeted therapies (The TLC Study)
Calvert, M., Gkoutos, G., Wraith, D., Nirantharakumar, K., Sapey, E., Hughes, S., Haroon, S., McMullan, C., Jackson, L., Cruz Rivera, S., Marwaha, S., Turner, G., Chandan, J., Marshall, T., Aiyegbusi, L., Lord, J. & Denniston, A.
NIHR
1/03/21 → 29/03/24
Project: Other Government Departments

Cite this

Tufts, J., Guan, N., Zemedikun, D. T., Subramanian, A., Gokhale, K., Myles, P., Williams, T., Marshall, T., Calvert, M., Matthews, K., Nirantharakumar, K., Jackson, L. J., & Haroon, S. (2023). The cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data. BMC Primary Care, 24(1), Article 245. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-023-02196-1

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abstract = "Background: The economic impact of managing long COVID in primary care is unknown. We estimated the costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID and explored the relationship between risk factors and costs. Methods: Data were obtained on non-hospitalised adults from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum primary care database. We used propensity score matching with an incremental cost method to estimate additional primary care consultation costs associated with long COVID (12 weeks after COVID-19) at an individual and UK national level. We applied multivariable regression models to estimate the association between risk factors and consultations costs beyond 12 weeks from acute COVID-19. Results: Based on an analysis of 472,173 patients with COVID-19 and 472,173 unexposed individuals, the annual incremental cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID was £2.44 per patient and £23,382,452 at the national level. Among patients with COVID-19, a long COVID diagnosis and reporting of longer-term symptoms were associated with a 43% and 44% increase in primary care consultation costs respectively, compared to patients without long COVID symptoms. Older age, female sex, obesity, being from a white ethnic group, comorbidities and prior consultation frequency were all associated with increased primary care consultation costs. Conclusions: The costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults are substantial. Costs are significantly higher among those diagnosed with long COVID, those with long COVID symptoms, older adults, females, and those with obesity and comorbidities.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Long COVID, Primary care, Cost, Economic",

author = "Jake Tufts and Naijie Guan and Zemedikun, {Dawit T} and Anuradhaa Subramanian and Krishna Gokhale and Puja Myles and Tim Williams and Tom Marshall and Melanie Calvert and Karen Matthews and Krishnarajah Nirantharakumar and Jackson, {Louise J} and Shamil Haroon",

note = "Funding: This work is independent research jointly funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (Therapies for Long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals: From symptoms, patient reported outcomes and immunology to targeted therapies (The TLC Study), COV-LT-0013). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care or UKRI.",

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Tufts, J, Guan, N , Zemedikun, DT , Subramanian, A , Gokhale, K, Myles, P, Williams, T , Marshall, T , Calvert, M, Matthews, K, Nirantharakumar, K , Jackson, LJ & Haroon, S 2023, 'The cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data', BMC Primary Care, vol. 24, no. 1, 245. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-023-02196-1

TY - JOUR

T1 - The cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults

T2 - a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data

AU - Tufts, Jake

AU - Guan, Naijie

AU - Zemedikun, Dawit T

AU - Subramanian, Anuradhaa

AU - Gokhale, Krishna

AU - Myles, Puja

AU - Williams, Tim

AU - Marshall, Tom

AU - Calvert, Melanie

AU - Matthews, Karen

AU - Nirantharakumar, Krishnarajah

AU - Jackson, Louise J

AU - Haroon, Shamil

N1 - Funding: This work is independent research jointly funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (Therapies for Long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals: From symptoms, patient reported outcomes and immunology to targeted therapies (The TLC Study), COV-LT-0013). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care or UKRI.

PY - 2023/11/20

Y1 - 2023/11/20

N2 - Background: The economic impact of managing long COVID in primary care is unknown. We estimated the costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID and explored the relationship between risk factors and costs. Methods: Data were obtained on non-hospitalised adults from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum primary care database. We used propensity score matching with an incremental cost method to estimate additional primary care consultation costs associated with long COVID (12 weeks after COVID-19) at an individual and UK national level. We applied multivariable regression models to estimate the association between risk factors and consultations costs beyond 12 weeks from acute COVID-19. Results: Based on an analysis of 472,173 patients with COVID-19 and 472,173 unexposed individuals, the annual incremental cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID was £2.44 per patient and £23,382,452 at the national level. Among patients with COVID-19, a long COVID diagnosis and reporting of longer-term symptoms were associated with a 43% and 44% increase in primary care consultation costs respectively, compared to patients without long COVID symptoms. Older age, female sex, obesity, being from a white ethnic group, comorbidities and prior consultation frequency were all associated with increased primary care consultation costs. Conclusions: The costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults are substantial. Costs are significantly higher among those diagnosed with long COVID, those with long COVID symptoms, older adults, females, and those with obesity and comorbidities.

AB - Background: The economic impact of managing long COVID in primary care is unknown. We estimated the costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID and explored the relationship between risk factors and costs. Methods: Data were obtained on non-hospitalised adults from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum primary care database. We used propensity score matching with an incremental cost method to estimate additional primary care consultation costs associated with long COVID (12 weeks after COVID-19) at an individual and UK national level. We applied multivariable regression models to estimate the association between risk factors and consultations costs beyond 12 weeks from acute COVID-19. Results: Based on an analysis of 472,173 patients with COVID-19 and 472,173 unexposed individuals, the annual incremental cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID was £2.44 per patient and £23,382,452 at the national level. Among patients with COVID-19, a long COVID diagnosis and reporting of longer-term symptoms were associated with a 43% and 44% increase in primary care consultation costs respectively, compared to patients without long COVID symptoms. Older age, female sex, obesity, being from a white ethnic group, comorbidities and prior consultation frequency were all associated with increased primary care consultation costs. Conclusions: The costs of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults are substantial. Costs are significantly higher among those diagnosed with long COVID, those with long COVID symptoms, older adults, females, and those with obesity and comorbidities.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Long COVID

KW - Primary care

KW - Cost

KW - Economic

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DO - 10.1186/s12875-023-02196-1

M3 - Article

C2 - 37986044

SN - 2731-4553

VL - 24

JO - BMC Primary Care

JF - BMC Primary Care

IS - 1

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ER -

The cost of primary care consultations associated with long COVID in non-hospitalised adults: a retrospective cohort study using UK primary care data

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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Projects

Therapies for Long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals: From symptoms, patient-reported outcomes and immunology to targeted therapies (The TLC Study)

Cite this