Cost of Hypoglycemia in Individuals With Diabetes on the London Ambulance Service: A Study Using Real-World Data

Speaker(s)

Reddy M1, Oliver N1, Speakman Brown S2, van Genugten M3
1Imperial College London, London, UK, 2Dexcom International Ltd, Edinburgh, CA, UK, 3Dexcom International Ltd, San Diego, CA, USA

Presentation Documents

OBJECTIVES: Hypoglycaemia in individuals with diabetes causes a substantial number of emergency call-outs by ambulance services across the UK every year. The objective of this study is to assess the costs and service burden associated with -diabetes related ambulance call-outs for hypoglycaemia in London.

METHODS: Real-world data from the London ambulance service (LAS) and Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) were used to identify all individuals with diabetes and hypoglycaemia. Individuals were classified by type of diabetes and on follow-up after ambulance attendance: conveyance to hospital, referred to a referral support team, treated but not conveyed, assisted but not conveyed, referred to GP, Emergency Department (ED) referral. Total costs were calculated by applying unit cost (inflated to 2024 values) from published sources.

RESULTS: The LAS registered 2290 diabetes related call-outs for hypoglycaemia between January and June 2018. The largest group (39%) were over 70 years of age, whilst 15% were aged 61-70, and 16% were between 51-60 years of age. Of the call-outs for hypoglycaemia, 55% were hospitalised, 18% were referred to a referral support team, 9% were treated but not conveyed, 6% were assisted but not conveyed, 4% were referred to a GP, and 0.1% resulted in ED referral. HES recorded 2070 non-elective admissions over one year with an average length of stay of 9.95 days for hypoglycaemia in London in 2018/19. The total cost for individuals with diabetes and hypoglycaemia who needed London ambulance services was estimated to be £7.4 million per year.

CONCLUSIONS: The cost of individuals with diabetes and hypoglycaemia using the LAS is substantial, with the highest absolute cost in the 70+ age category. Cost-savings may be achieved with access to a real time glucose-monitoring technology which is known to be associated with reduced hospitalization for hypoglycaemia and third-party intervention.

Code

EE635

Topic

Economic Evaluation, Epidemiology & Public Health, Real World Data & Information Systems, Study Approaches

Topic Subcategory

Health & Insurance Records Systems, Public Health, Registries

Disease

Diabetes/Endocrine/Metabolic Disorders (including obesity), Medical Devices