Disability-Adjusted Life Years and cost of health loss of hospitalised major trauma patients in New Zealand

AIMS: The aims of this study were to quantify the burden, and the cost of health loss, following hospitalisation for major trauma in New Zealand. METHOD: Hospitalised major trauma patients injured between July 2017 and June 2020 were extracted from the New Zealand Trauma Registry. Case-mix of major trauma in each year was summarised using descriptive statistics. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were calculated for the cohort. A cost per DALY was applied to estimate the cost of health loss. RESULTS: A total of 6,629 major trauma cases were recorded, rising from 2,072 in 2017-2018 to 2,191 in 2019-2020. The patient case-mix remained relatively consistent over the timeframe while the in-hospital mortality rate declined from 9.2% to 7.3%. Hospitalised major trauma patients accrued 22,718 DALYs (average 7,573 DALYs per year) at an estimated health loss cost of $1.02 billion ($341 million per year). The cost of health loss per case declined from $162,747 in 2017-2018 to $143,577 in 2019-2020. CONCLUSION: The burden of major trauma is high. As injury is a preventable condition, the findings highlight the need for dedicated investment in both primary prevention and trauma care in New Zealand to reduce these avoidable costs.