Comparison of HIV-infected patients' characteristics, healthcare resources use and cost between native and migrant patients

Objectives: To assess whether patients' characteristics and healthcare resources consumption and costs were different between native and migrant populations in Switzerland. Methods: All adult patients followed-up in the Swiss HIV-cohort study in our institution during 2000-2003 were considered. Patients' characteristics were retrieved from the cohort database. Hospital and outpatient resource use were extracted from individual charts and valued with 2002 tariffs. Results: The 66 migrants were younger (29 +/- 8 years versus 37 +/- 11, p < 0.001), less often of male gender (38% versus 70%, p < 0.001), predominantly infected via heterosexual contact (87% versus 52%, p < 0.01), with lower mean CD4 level at enrolment (326 +/- 235 versus 437 +/- 305, p = 0.002) than their 200 native counterparts. Migrants had fewer hospitalizations, more frequent outpatient visits, laboratory tests, and lower total cost of care per year of follow-up ((sic) 2'215 +/- 4'206 versus 4'155 +/- 12'304, p = 0.037). Resource use and costs were significantly higher in people with < 200 CD4 cell counts in both groups. Conclusions: Migrant population had more advanced disease, more outpatient visits but less hospitalizations, resulting in lower costs of care when compared with native population.