Insert table 2 about here
Conversely, the rate of neonatal admissions was lower in the CTG+STan
arm, and the average neonatal admission costs for admitted babies were
approximately half in the CTG+STan arm; AUD6,690 vs AUD13,294, which
resulted in the equivalent of a cost saving of AUD2,444 for every
mother-baby dyad in the cohort (Table 2). While the evidence of this
difference was not statistically significant (given the large
variability in costs, and the fact that the study was not powered to
detect cost differences), the magnitude of the observed difference is
remarkable. Most of the difference in cost appears to result from
increased critical care costs for admitted neonates in the CTG alone
arm. Interestingly, the seven neonates in the CTG+STan arm admitted to
critical care had average total admission costs of about one third of
the fourteen requiring critical care in the CTG alone arm (AUD30, 650
compared with AUD94, 805 per neonatal admission incorporating a critical
care stay).