Lionhealth is participating in ISPOR Europe 2025, among the leading international conferences dedicated to health economics, with the poster, "Cost-Consequence Analysis of Oral Nutritional Supplementation in Community-Managed Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Italy."
The study, conducted in collaboration with theUniversity of Rome "Tor Vergata" - CEIS-EEHTA, provides the first Italian evidence on the economic impact of malnutrition in hospitalized patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The results show how malnutrition represents an important economic burden for the National Health Service and emphasize the value of nutritional supplementation in the management of the patient with IBD.
Key findings
The study shows that:
- a patient with IBD and malnutrition carries a 66% higher cost than a non-malnourished patient;
- the prevalence of malnutrition reported in SDOs (3.1%) is lower than literature data (13-26%), suggesting underdiagnosis or undercoding, probably related to the absence of dedicated DRGs and specific reimbursement. The true incidence is therefore likely underestimated.
- Treating 30 percent of malnourished patients with oral nutritional supplements (ONS) would reduce hospitalizations for IBD by 10 percent;
- integration of targeted nutritional interventions into the treatment pathway can generate a significant reduction in costs incurred by the NHS.
The impact for the National Health Service.
These results highlight the importance of clinical nutrition as an integral part of IBD management, not only to improve clinical outcomes but also to optimize the use of healthcare resources.
The adoption of timely nutrition strategies represents an opportunity to reduce costs associated with hospitalizations and improve patients' quality of life.
Event
📍 ISPOR Europe 2025 - Scottish Event Campus (SEC), Glasgow (UK).
🗓️ November 11, 2025, Poster Session 4
🕕 Poster Discussion: 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
📋 Poster Code: EE570
