Late Breaking Abstract - Health economic burden of asthma/COPD in Uganda, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan and Greece: FRESH AIR results

Introduction: National data on the clinical & economic impact of asthma/COPD are key to raise awareness and to inform national action plans and implementation strategies. For low-resource settings as Uganda, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan & rural Greece, these data are largely lacking. Objective: We aimed to estimate the health economic burden of asthma/COPD in Uganda, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan & rural Greece as part of the FRESH AIR study. Methods: Questionnaires were administered to representative samples of patients with a diagnosis of asthma and/or COPD in Uganda [U] (N=102), Vietnam [V] (N=491), Kyrgyzstan [K] (N=308) and rural Greece [G] (N=100). We surveyed patients about socio-economic data, risk factor exposure, symptoms, healthcare utilization and co-payments, work productivity (WPAI) and health status (mMRC, CCQ, EQ-5D). Data were enriched with spirometry, comorbidities & treatment data from patients’ clinical records. Results: Mean age (SD) was 34.0 (15.8) [U], 60.5 (16.2) [V], 62.1 (11.2) [K] and 70.4 (12.1) [G] with 8%, 51%, 99% and 81% respectively having COPD (the rest asthma). Mean mMRC scores ranged between 0.5 [U]-2.7 [K], CCQ between 1.9 [U]-3.1 [K]. EQ-5D derived utility was 0.92 [U], 0.71 [V], 0.68 [K] and 0.72 [G]. A total of 95% [U], 13% [V], 1% [K] and 4% [G] lacked health insurance and a substantial part of healthcare utilization was uncovered. Between 60% and 90% of patients reported that asthma/COPD affected their ability to work and/or do their regular daily activities. Conclusions: The impact of asthma/COPD on healthcare utilization & spending, work productivity and quality of life is considerable. Ultimately these data could serve national asthma/COPD strategies.