Estimating the health-care costs of wound care in Ireland

Objective: To estimate the cost of wound care to the Irish health-care system.Methods: A bottom-up, prevalence-based analysis was undertaken using a decision analytic model to estimate costs. Health-care resource activity was identified from a recently published study from the UK and was valued using unit cost data for Ireland.Results: The base case analysis estimated the total annual health-care cost of wound care to be (sic)629,064,198 (95% Confidence interval (CI): (sic)452,673,358 to (sic)844,087,124), accounting for 5% (95% CI: 3% to 6%) of total public health expenditure in Ireland in 2013.The average cost per patient was (sic)3,941 ( 95% CI: (sic)2,836 to (sic)5,287). However, this study is subject to many limitations and plausible changes in the model's inputs showed that the total annual health-care cost of wound care could range from (sic)281,438,970 to (sic)844,316,912.Conclusion: Caring for wounds places a substantial burden on the Irish health-care system. In light of growing pressures to finance an already resource-constrained health-care system, these results provide useful information for those charged with future wound care service design and provision in Ireland and elsewhere.