The cost and disease burden of pneumonia in general practice in Australia

It is important to have an understanding of the cost and disease burden of pneumonia in the community to help evaluate future prevention efforts. We examined general practitioner (GP) visits (and estimated the related costs) where pneumonia was managed from data collected in a continuous national survey, data period April 2006-March 2009. The majority of visits were standard length surgery consultations, with medication prescribed for 63%, imaging requested for 29%, and pathology for 10% of pneumonia problems managed. We estimated an average cost per GP visit of A$57.05 after adjusting for the number of problems managed. An annual average of 343,000 GP visits for pneumonia was estimated in Australia at cost of similar to A$20 million per year. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.