Costs of topical treatment of pressure ulcer patients

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the costs of a topical treatment of pressure ulcer (PU) patients in a hospital unit for treatment of chronic patients in 2014. Method: This is an activity-based costing study. This method encompasses the identification, measurement and pricing of physical and human resources consumed for dressings. Results: Procedure costs varied between BRL 16.41 and BRL 260.18. For PUs of the same category, of near areas and with the same type of barrier/adjuvant, the cost varied between 3.5% and 614.6%. For most dressings, the cost increased proportionally to the increase of the area and to the development of PU category. The primary barrier accounted for a high percentage of costs among all items required to the application of dressings (human and material resources). Dressings applied in sacral PUs had longer application times. Conclusion: This study allowed us to understand the costs involved in the treatment of PUs, and it may support decision-makers and other cost-effectiveness studies.