The economic impact of asthma on private healthcare system in Brazil: Economic impact of asthma in Brazil

To assess healthcare resource utilization and costs of patients with asthma in Brazilian Supplementary Healthcare System, focusing on hospitalization data. Retrospective cohort study, using data from an administrative database of a private company (Orizon). Patients aged >= 12 years with at least one record of emergency visit/hospitalization in the database with the ICD-10 J45 between January/2010 and June/2015 were included and followed until June/2016, death or inactivation of health plan. Sociodemographic characteristics, emergency visit and hospital admission per patient per year (exacerbation rate), physician visit with a procedure, exams, length of hospitalization (with/without intensive care unit (ICU)), and in-hospital treatments were assessed. A total of 54,568 patients were included in this analysis. Regarding resource utilization, emergency visit and hospital admission rates of 0.34 and 0.04 per person-year were observed, respectively. Mean length of hospital stay were 8.82 (SD = 36.48), 5.24 (SD = 19.06) and 19.53 (63.89) days for hospitalizations in general, without and with ICU, respectively. An exacerbation rate of 0.36 per person year was observed with a mean cost per episode of 3178 Brazilian Real (BRL) (SD = 31,667). Mean cost related to emergency department visits was estimated at 293 BRL (SD = 328). Hospitalization costs were stratified by the need of ICU and values observed were of 9307 BRL (SD = 18,979) without ICU, and 75,252 BRL (SD = 174,248) with ICU need. Asthma exacerbations may cost similar to 75,000 BRL for an ICU-dependent event in the Supplementary Healthcare System. To improve disease control may reduce disease burden for both healthcare system and patients.

Automated summary

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess healthcare resource utilization and costs of patients with asthma in the Brazilian Supplementary Healthcare System. The study focused on hospitalization data and found that the emergency visit rate was 0.34 per person-year, while the hospital admission rate was 0.04 per person-year. The mean length of hospital stay was 8.82 days, with an average cost per episode of 3178 Brazilian Real (BRL). The study also revealed that ICU-dependent asthma exacerbations could cost up to 75,000 BRL in the Supplementary Healthcare System. Improving disease control could help alleviate the burden on both the healthcare system and patients.