Objective

To estimate the direct costs related to hospitalizations for diabetes mellitus and its complications in the Mexican Institute of Social Security.

Methods

The hospital care costs of patients with diabetes mellitus using diagnosis-related groups in the IMSS (Mexican Institute of Social Security) and the hospital discharges from the corresponding E10- E14 codes for diabetes mellitus were estimated between 2008-2013. Costs were grouped according to demographic characteristics and main condition, and were estimated in US dollars in 2013.

Results

411,302 diabetes mellitus discharges were recorded, representing a cost of $1,563 million. 52.44% of hospital discharges were men and 77.26% were for type 2 diabetes mellitus. The biggest cost was attributed to peripheral circulatory complications (34.84%) and people from 45-64 years of age (47.1%). Discharges decreased by 3.84% and total costs by 1.75% in the period analysed. The complications that caused the biggest cost variations were ketoacidosis (50.7%), ophthalmic (22.6%) and circulatory (18.81%).

Conclusions

Hospital care for diabetes mellitus represents an important financial challenge for the IMSS. The increase in the frequency of hospitalisations in the productive age group, which affects society as a whole, is an even bigger challenge, and suggests the need to strengthen monitoring of diabetics in order to prevent complications that require hospital care.

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