The Cost of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in the United Kingdom: A Review of Cost-of- Illness Studies

Aims To identify cost-of-illness studies of Type 1 diabetes mellitus (Type 1 DM) in the United Kingdom (UK) and review this literature to estimate the current cost of Type 1 DM to the UK National Health Service.

Methods Bibliographic databases and grey literature were systematically searched to identify all published and unpublished reporting of the costs of Type 1 DM in the UK. Studies were excluded if they did not present cost information from the UK or did not disaggregate information by diabetes type. Three grey literature sources and 11 published studies were identified for inclusion in the literature review.

Results The included studies and reports covered topics including the overall cost of Type 1 DM, costs of individual diabetic complications and costs of specific interventions for Type 1 DM. The most recent published estimate of the cost of Type 1 DM was over 15 years old, and although this estimate has been inflated to current prices the estimate is not adjusted for changes to treatment pathways over this period and is therefore not considered an accurate estimate of current costs of Type 1 DM.

Conclusions There is not a recently published estimate of the cost of Type 1 DM in the UK therefore it is recommended that an up-to-date national, comprehensive COI study should be conducted. Recommendations for the format of this study are made, including extending the scope to cover recent treatment developments and resource use where diabetes is a subsidiary diagnosis.