Background: Assessment of economic implications of pediatric HIV infection allows to document efforts which are devoted by health care system to the care of children born to HIV infected women. This paper presents the results of the first analysis, in the French health care context, of direct medical costs related to HIV mother-to-child risk of transmission.
Material and methods: Statistical prospective analysis was performed on 853 files concerning 152 children followed in three medical centers. Because the medical consumptions data were linked to clinical status, average direct medical costs per medical contact could be defined for each center.
Results: Results were consistent with the hypothesis that more medical care is necessary when the clinical picture is uncertain (indeterminate status) or reflects health state deterioration. However, results are very different according to HIV clinical status and disparities may be so large that costs per clinical status hierarchy may be disrupted. Explicative factors for these variabilities are expressed in terms of patient recruitment, medical uncertainty management and resources disponibility.