Costs of treating cardiovascular events in Germany: a systematic literature review

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to systematically evaluate available evidence regarding direct medical costs of treating cardiovascular (CV) events in Germany after 2003 on an individual patient basis and from a payer perspective. The CV events of interest were myocardial infarction (MI), unstable angina, heart failure (HF), stroke, and peripheral artery disease (PAD). METHOD: A systematic literature search was performed in the following databases according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines - Medline, Embase, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, TIBORDER, and German dissertation database from January 2003 to October 2013. Both observational studies and randomized clinical trials were considered for the review. All values stated in € are inflation adjusted to 2014 € unless stated otherwise. RESULT: This review included 13 articles. For newly occurred MI patients, the average hospitalization costs during the acute phase were reported to be between € 6790 and € 8918 per admission. In the first year after a MI event, direct medical costs were € 13,838–14,792 per patient. Direct medical costs of chronic HF patients were found to be between € 3417 and 5576 per patient per year. Treatment costs increase with disease progression. The average treatment costs for hospitalized PAD in the acute phase were reported to be € 4963 per admission, € 2535 per patient during month 1–6 after the initial hospitalization, € 1601 in month 7–12, and € 1390 in month 13–18. For stroke of all types, total direct medical costs in the 1st year after an event were reported to be € 13,273 per patient. Total direct medical costs during the 1st year after an ischemic stroke event were € 17,399–21,954 per patient, € 6260 in month 13–18, and € 6496 per year in the subsequent 4 years. CONCLUSION: MI, unstable angina, HF, stroke and PAD have a high financial impact on the German health care system. Treatment costs of these diseases are mostly incurred during the acute phase of events and tend to decrease over time. Hospitalization and rehabilitation costs were two major cost drivers. Medication costs was one of the smallest cost component reported.