Ventilator-associated pneumonia - What price does the public health system pay?

Background: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is the commonest healthcare-associated infection (HAI) in intensive care units (ICU), especially in trauma patients. VAP imposes a significant cost burden on the healthcare ecosystem. However, there are few data from the developing world.

Methodology: We conducted this study in the trauma ICU (TICU) of PGIMER, Chandigarh, from October 2021 to December 2022. The incidence, incidence density, and average length of stay (ALOS) of both VAP and non-VAP patients were established. The health system cost was assessed using a mixed (top-down and bottom-up) micro-costing approach. We collected data for all the resources (direct and indirect costs) utilized during service delivery and estimated the health system cost per bed per day.

Results: In this study, 494 patients were admitted to TICU, of which 484 received Mechanical Ventilation (MV) and 47 developed VAP. We included 41 and 44 patients with and without VAP. The VAP incidence rate was 9.7% and the VAP incidence density was 10.79/1000 MV days. The ALOS for VAP patients was 21 days, and for non- VAP patients was 8.2 days. Our study estimated a total health system cost of INR 25,927 per bed per day. The health system cost of treating a VAP patient was INR 544,467 compared to INR 207,416 for a non-VAP patient.

Conclusion: Treatment of VAP poses substantial costs for the health system and patients. There is a need to focus on preventing VAP, which would eventually reduce the length of stay and the resultant financial impact on the health system and the patient.