Artículo de revista
Health care costs and resource utilization for different asthma severity stages in Colombia: a claims data analysis
Registro en:
1939-4551
Corporación Universidad de la Costa
REDICUC - Repositorio CUC
Autor
Flórez-Tanus, Álvaro
Parra, Devian
Zakzuk, Josefina
Caraballo, Luis
Alvis-Guzmán, Nelson
Institución
Resumen
Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic respiratory conditions worldwide. Asthma-related
economic burden has been reported in Latin America, but knowledge about its economic impact to the Colombian
health care system and the influence of disease severity is lacking. This study estimated direct medical costs and health
care resource utilization (HCRU) in patients with asthma according to severity in Colombia.
Methods: This study identified all-age patients who had at least one medical event linked to an asthma
diagnosis (CIE-10: J45-J46) between 2004 and 2014. Patients were selected if they had a continuous enrollment and
uninterrupted insurance coverage between January 1–2015 and December 31–2015 and were categorized into 4
different severity levels using a modified algorithm based on Leidy criteria. Healthcare utilization and costs were
estimated in a 1-year period after the identification period. A Generalized Linear Model (GLM) with gamma distribution
and log link was used to analyze costs adjusting for patient demographics.
Results: A total of 20,410 patients were included: 69.5% had mild intermittent, 18.0% mild persistent, 6.9% moderate
persistent and 5.5% severe persistent asthma; with mean costs (SD) of $67 (134), $482 (1506), $1061 (1983), $2235
(3426) respectively (p < 0.001). The mean total direct cost was estimated at $331 (1278) per patient. Medication and
hospitalization had the higher proportion in total costs (46% and 31% respectively). General physician visits was the
most used service (57.2%) and short-acting β-2 agonists the most used medication (24%).
Conclusions: Health services utilization and direct costs of asthma were highly related to disease severity. Nationwide
health policies aimed at the effective control of asthma are necessary and would play an important role in reducing
the associated economic impact.