Excess resource use and cost of drug-resistant infections for six key pathogens in Europe: a systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Quantifying the resource use and cost of antimicrobial resistance establishes the magnitude of the problem and drives action.

OBJECTIVES

Assessment of resource use and cost associated with infections with six key drug-resistant pathogens in Europe.

METHODS

A systematic review and Bayesian meta-analysis.

DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Econlit databases, and grey literature for the period 1 January 1990, to 21 June 2022.

STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Resource use and cost outcomes (including excess length of stay, overall costs, and other excess in or outpatient costs) were compared between patients with defined antibiotic-resistant infections caused by carbapenem-resistant (CR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii, CR or third-generation cephalosporin Escherichia coli (3GCREC) and Klebsiella pneumoniae, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, and patients with drug-susceptible or no infection.

PARTICIPANTS

All patients diagnosed with drug-resistant bloodstream infections (BSIs).

INTERVENTIONS: NA.

ASSESSMENT OF RISK OF BIAS: An adapted version of the Joanna Briggs Institute assessment tool, incorporating case-control, cohort, and economic assessment frameworks.

METHODS OF DATA SYNTHESIS: Hierarchical Bayesian meta-analyses were used to assess pathogen-specific resource use estimates.

RESULTS

Of 5969 screened publications, 37 were included in the review. Data were sparse and heterogeneous. Most studies estimated the attributable burden by, comparing resistant and susceptible pathogens (32/37). Four studies analysed the excess cost of hospitalization attributable to 3GCREC BSIs, ranging from -€ 2465.50 to € 6402.81. Eight studies presented adjusted excess length of hospital stay estimates for methicillin-resistant S. aureus and 3GCREC BSIs (4 each) allowing for Bayesian hierarchical analysis, estimating means of 1.26 (95% credible interval [CrI], -0.72 to 4.17) and 1.78 (95% CrI, -0.02 to 3.38) days, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence on most cost and resource use outcomes and across most pathogen-resistance combinations was severely lacking. Given the importance of this evidence for rational policymaking, further research is urgently needed.