OBJECTIVES: There are limited data currently available regarding the prevalence of post-transplant events and associated resource utilization in renal transplant patients in clinical practice. This study aims to describe the healthcare resource utilization and costs of managing patients after renal transplantation, stratified by relative graft functioning status, using observational data from relevant databases and physician questionnaires from transplant centres across Europe.
METHODS: Data from renal databases in Cardiff and Leuven University Hospitals have been analysed to assess 3-year post-transplant resource use in the UK and Belgium, respectively. Similar data have been derived from questionnaires administered in multiple centres in UK, Italy, The Netherlands and Poland. For each country, published local costs have been applied to the resource use. Results have been stratified by glomerular filtration rate (GFR) at one-year post-transplant.
RESULTS: Across these countries, the total three-year cost of post-transplant care varies depending on local treatment practices, from a minimum of €36,000 per patient in Poland to a maximum of €77,000 in the The Netherlands. Consistently across all countries, the average three-year costs decrease as a result of improved graft functioning status (increased GFR) at one year. The average three-year costs for a patient with a GFR45 at one year are 29% lower than those with 30GFR in the The Netherlands, 40% lower in Italy, 43% lower in Belgium, 50% lower in the UK, and 51% lower in Poland.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that in five European countries, worsening post-transplant renal function contributes to substantive increases in resource use, with some variation across regions. Therefore management strategies that promote renal function after transplantation are likely to provide important resource savings. Additional analyses are ongoing in Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany and Sweden to further confirm these observations.
