MEDICAL-CARE COSTS OF CHILDREN BORN TO HI V-INFECTED WOMEN - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

Background. - Assessment of economic implications of pediatric HIV inf ection allows to document efforts which are devoted by health care sys tem to the care of children born to HIV infected women. This paper pre sents the results of the first analysis, in the French health care con text, of direct medical costs related to HIV mother-to-child risk of t ransmission. Material and methods. - Statistical prospective analysis was performed on 853 files concerning 152 children followed in three m edical centers. Because the medical consumptions data were linked to c linical status, average direct medical costs per medical contact could be defined for each center. Results. - Results were consistent with t he hypothesis that more medical care is necessary when the clinical pi cture is uncertain (indeterminate status) or reflects health state det erioration. However, results are very different according to HIV clini cal status and disparities may be so large that costs per clinical sta tus hierarchy may be disrupted. Explicative factors for these variabil ities are expressed in terms of patient recruitement, medical uncertai nty management and resources disponibility.