Research Article
Cost of Enteral Formulae Feed in Critically Ill Patients in a Tertiary Care Centre: An Observational Study from India
Sanjith S* Apoorv T and Nikita shah
Department of Critical care, Raheja-Fortis, India
*Corresponding author: Sanjith S, Department of Critical care, Raheja-Fortis, Mumbai, India, Tel: 00919004479549; E-mail: docsanjith@rediffmail.com
Article Information: Submission: 03/12/2019; Accepted: 30/12/2019; Published: 31/12/2019
Copyright: © 2019 Sanjith S, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Introduction: Specialized enteral feeding provided by the use of scientific formula feeds are considered costly and cost is very important factor in Indian
ICU. The aim of this study is to evaluate the cost of enteral formulae feeding in critically ill patients in a tertiary care center and to correlate the cost to the
severity of illness and LOS of patients in ICU.
Methodology: An Observational study was performed on2748 patients admitted in ICU of S.L Raheja Hospital over a period of 3 years who were completely
fed over formula feeds which was determined by iNutrimon Software. The feeding data were extracted from the patient file record and were analyzed.
Result: Overall results indicated that the average cost of scientific feeding formulae was 749 INR (10.77 U.S.Dollars)/day. Average LOS for the entire
population during the study period was 4.84 days. If the LOS was greater than 5 days the cost of formulae feeding was 325 INR (4.67 U.S.Dollars)/day and if
LOS was less than or equal to 5 days the cost was 826 INR (11.88 U.S.Dollars/day.
Conclusion: Lesser the number of days the patient stays in the ICU more is the cost of scientific formula feeding. Howsoever the cost of feeding per day
is much lesser than the cost of many others like antibiotics in the ICU.