Ran T et al. – This study assessed the economic costs of unintentional non–fire–related (UNFR) carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and costs and benefits of installing CO detectors in homes. There is considerable economic burden of UNFR CO poisoning in the US and the benefits of installing CO detectors significantly exceed the costs of installation.

Methods

• Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) and Truven© Health MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters and Medicare Supplemental data provided charges and cost information from 2010 to 2014.

Results

• The total annual medical cost of UNFR CO poisoning ranged from $33.6 to $37.7 million and the annual non–medical costs ranged from $3.7 to almost $4.4 million.
• The calculated benefit–to–cost ratio can go up to as high as 7.2 to 1.