Nutritional therapy: costs according to formulations and compositions

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the costs of nutritional therapy according to the different types of compositions and formulations of industrialized enteral and parenteral diet. In addition, to compare the cost of nutritional therapy in relation to antibiotic therapy. Methods: It is a cross-sectional, documental, retrospective study with a qualitative and quantitative design, based on analysis of hospital accounts from a healthcare service in southern Brazil. Results: We analyzed 301 hospital accounts related to nutritional therapy of 159 individuals. There were 208 accounts with enteral diet, 32 accounts with parenteral diet and 61 accounts with enteral and parenteral diet (concomitant use or not). The total diet cost was 34.30% of the total value of hospital bills, compared to 12.62% in antibiotic therapy (p < 0.0001). The average cost per day of the specialized enteral diet was higher than the standard diet (BRL 1,166.91 versus BRL 1,006.45; p = 0.0010); The non-polymer diet was higher than the polymer diet (BRL 1,210.94 versus BRL 1,063.79, p = 0.0014); The normocaloric or hypercaloric and hyperproteic diet was higher than normocaloric and normoproteic diet (BRL 1,158.84 and BRL 1,133.61 versus BRL 654,21, p = 0.0036). The mean cost per day of the specialized parenteral diet was higher than the standard diet (BRL 2,525.44 versus BRL 1,211.21, p < 0.0001), mainly due to the immunomodulatory diet (R $ 3,575.62, p = 0,0001). Conclusion: The cost of nutritional therapy was significantly higher than the cost of antibiotic therapy. The formulations of specialized diet, with greater complexity, higher caloric density and protein presented a significantly higher cost. The cost of nutritional therapy was significantly higher than the cost of antibiotic therapy.