Economic and clinical burden from carbapenem-resistant bacterial infections and factors contributing: a retrospective study using electronic medical records in Japan

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to global health and the world economy. The economic burden of carbapenem-resistant infections has not previously been evaluated. We aimed to compare the potential economic burden and clinical outcomes between carbapenem-resistant infections and carbapenem-susceptible infections in Japan. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using electronic medical records. Patients aged 15 years or older and with the diagnosis of pneumonia, urinary tract infection, biliary infection, and sepsis were included. Multivariable regression models with random effects were used to estimate the impact of carbapenem resistance on cost, length of hospital stay, and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: Among the 9,517 patients, 86 (0.9%) had carbapenem-resistant (CR) infections. Compared to carbapenem-susceptible (CS) infections, the patients with the CR infections were significantly more likely to receive mechanical ventilation (37.2 vs. 21.2%, P-value = 0.003), antibiotics (88.4 vs. 63.0%, P-value < 0.001), and especially carbapenem (31.4 vs. 8.3%, P-value < 0.001), before the bacterial culture test positive. Significantly higher median costs were found for the CR infections than the CS infections in the categories of medications (3477 US dollars vs. 1609 US dollars), laboratory tests (2498 US dollars, vs. 1845 US dollars), and hospital stay (14,307 US dollars vs. 10,560 US dollars). In the multivariable regression analysis, the length of stay was 42.1% longer and the cost was 50.4% higher in the CR infections than in the CS infections. The risk of in-hospital mortality did not differ between the two groups (odds ratio 1.24, 95% CI 0.72–2.11), due to the small sample size. The result was robust with a similar trend in the analysis using the inverse probability treatment weighting method. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to carbapenem-susceptible infections, carbapenem-resistant infections were associated with a higher cost and a longer length of stay. Detailed cost analysis showed significant differences in the categories of medication, laboratory tests, and hospital stay. To our knowledge, this study is the first to assess the potential economic burden of carbapenem-resistant infections using a large hospital-based database. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-022-07548-3.