Analysis of factors influencing hospitalization cost of patients with distal radius fractures: an empirical study based on public traditional Chinese medicine hospitals in two cities, China

Distal radius fractures (DRFs) have become a public health problem for all countries, bringing a heavier economic burden of disease globally, with China’s disease economic burden being even more acute due to the trend of an aging population. This study aimed to explore the influencing factors of hospitalization cost of patients with DRFs in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM^a) hospitals to provide a scientific basis for controlling hospitalization cost.

With 1306 cases of DRFs patients hospitalized in 15 public TCM^a hospitals in two cities of Gansu Province in China from January 2017 to 2022 as the study object, the influencing factors of hospitalization cost were studied in depth gradually through univariate analysis, multiple linear regression, and path model.

Hospitalization cost of patients with DRFs is mainly affected by the length of stay, surgery and operation, hospital levels, payment methods of medical insurance, use of TCM^a preparations, complications and comorbidities, and clinical pathways. The length of stay is the most critical factor influencing the hospitalization cost, and the longer the length of stay, the higher the hospitalization cost.

TCM^a hospitals should actively take advantage of TCM^b diagnostic modalities and therapeutic methods to ensure the efficacy of treatment and effectively reduce the length of stay at the same time, to lower hospitalization cost. It is also necessary to further deepen the reform of the medical insurance payment methods and strengthen the construction of the hierarchical diagnosis and treatment system, to make the patients receive reasonable reimbursement for medical expenses, thus effectively alleviating the economic burden of the disease in the patients with DRFs.