RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Cost of hospitalised patients due to complicated urinary tract infections: a retrospective observational study in countries with high prevalence of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria: the COMBACTE-MAGNET, RESCUING study JF BMJ Open JO BMJ Open FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group SP e020251 DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-020251 VO 8 IS 4 A1 Laura Vallejo-Torres A1 Miquel Pujol A1 Evelyn Shaw A1 Irith Wiegand A1 Joan Miquel Vigo A1 Margaret Stoddart A1 Sally Grier A1 Julie Gibbs A1 Christiane Vank A1 Nienke Cuperus A1 Leo van den Heuvel A1 Noa Eliakim-Raz A1 Jordi Carratala A1 Cuong Vuong A1 Alasdair MacGowan A1 Tanya Babich A1 Leonard Leibovici A1 Ibironke Addy A1 Stephen Morris A1 , YR 2018 UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/4/e020251.abstract AB Objective Complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs) impose a high burden on healthcare systems and are a frequent cause of hospitalisation. The aims of this paper are to estimate the cost per episode of patients hospitalised due to cUTI and to explore the factors associated with cUTI-related healthcare costs in eight countries with high prevalence of multidrug resistance (MDR).Design This is a multinational observational, retrospective study. The mean cost per episode was computed by multiplying the volume of healthcare use for each patient by the unit cost of each item of care and summing across all components. Costs were measured from the hospital perspective. Patient-level regression analyses were used to identify the factors explaining variation in cUTI-related costs.Setting The study was conducted in 20 hospitals in eight countries with high prevalence of multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Romania, Spain and Turkey).Participants Data were obtained from 644 episodes of patients hospitalised due to cUTI.Results The mean cost per case was €5700, with considerable variation between countries (largest value €7740 in Turkey; lowest value €4028 in Israel), mainly due to differences in length of hospital stay. Factors associated with higher costs per patient were: type of admission, infection source, infection severity, the Charlson comorbidity index and presence of MDR.Conclusions The mean cost per hospitalised case of cUTI was substantial and varied significantly between countries. A better knowledge of the reasons for variations in length of stays could facilitate a better standardised quality of care for patients with cUTI and allow a more efficient allocation of healthcare resources. Urgent admissions, infections due to an indwelling urinary catheterisation, resulting in septic shock or severe sepsis, in patients with comorbidities and presenting MDR were related to a higher cost.