Background: Lancet gave a 99-point high score to the comprehensive level of diagnosis and treatment of inguinal hernia in China, and more than half of the inguinal hernia surgery procedures were completed in primary hospitals. At present, the hospitalization costs of inguinal hernia surgery patients in primary hospitals, the influencing factors, and the path between the factors are unclear. Innovative methods are needed to quantify the research and evaluation of hospitalization costs for inguinal hernia surgery patients to emphasise the impact of relevant measures on surgeons and hospital cost-control mechanisms.
Methods: A retrospective method was used to collect data from inguinal hernia surgery patients. The relationships between hospitalization costs and the following factors (age, gender, surgery, surgical method, surgical time, preoperative bed stay, postoperative bed stay, length of stay, and surgical costs) were analyzed using Spearman’s correlation analyzes, and how these factors influenced hospital expenditure was explored through structural equation modelling.
Results: According to Spearman’s rank correlation analysis, the hospitalization costs were related to the eight selected indicators (rs = -0.084 - 0.549, p < 0.01), and the surgical time was most relevant. The total effect of the surgical time on the hospitalization costs (total effect = 0.459) ranked first in the structural equation model, which means that the risk of hospitalization costs was higher with a longer surgical time.The choice of surgical method had a direct effect on the hospitalization costs (total effect = 0.291), and the effect was second only to the surgical time. Other research factors also had an indirect or direct impact on the hospitalization costs.
Conclusion: It is necessary to understand the hospitalization costs of inguinal hernia surgery patients and their influencing factors and interactions to form a scientific price incentive system and cost-control mechanism.