Chronic Comorbidities Contribute to the Burden and Costs of Persistent Asthma

Background. We aimed to study the prevalence of chronic comorbidities in asthma patients and the costs of health care use associated with asthma with comorbidities. Material and Methods. We analysed the prevalence of the four most common chronic diseases in asthma patients in 2008-2014 in Finland. Prevalence of coronary artery disease, diabetes and dyslipidaemia, hypertension, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatic diseases, and severe psychiatric disease was studied by register of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The costs of health care services were collected from the registries maintained by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). Results. Prevalence of asthma was 4.6% in 2014. Diabetes was among the four most common comorbidities in all the age groups. The other common comorbidities were hypertension (>= 46 years; 12.9-37.6%), severe psychiatric disorders (age groups of 16-59 years; 1.4-3.5%), and ischaemic heart disease (>= 60 years; 10-25%). In patients with both asthma and diabetes, the costs of hospitalization were approximately 169% compared with patients with asthma alone. Conclusions. Prevalence of asthma increases by tenfold when aging. The comorbidity diversity and rate are age-dependent. Prevalence of diabetes as comorbidity in asthma has increased. Costs of hospitalizations in asthma approximately double with chronic comorbidities.