Out-of-hospital health care costs of childhood food allergy in Australia

A recent article led by Dr Xinyang Hua and Prof Kim Dalziel at Health Economics Unit at the Centre For Health Policy has been published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology. Using a longitudinal population-based cohort of infants with challenge-confirmed food allergy outcomes (the HealthNuts study), this study estimated the out-of-hospital health care costs of childhood food allergy in Australia and projected its economic burden at the population level.

The results show that although infant food allergy in many cases resolves in the first few years of life, it causes considerable costs to the health system including out-of-hospital services. The total Medicare cost associated with food allergy from age 1 to 4 years was estimated to be AUD$26.1 million annually in Australia. The findings can act as a useful costing resource for future evaluations focusing on preventive and treatment strategies for children with food allergy.