Coste económico del paciente asmático en España (estudio AsmaCost)

Objective: This analysis of the cost of asthma in Spain includes both direct health care costs and indirect costs arising from illness. Patients and Methods: Prospective, 12-month observational cohort study of adult patients with asthma diagnosed according to the guidelines of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and the adapted Spanish criteria (GEMA). We recorded information on health care resources utilized (medications, medical visits, emergency care, hospital admissions, and tests) and indirect costs (patient travel or transfer costs and workdays lost). Results: A total of 627 patients throughout Spain were studied. Of these, 21.2% had intermittent asthma, 24.6% mild asthma, 27.6% moderate asthma, and 26.6% severe asthma. The total societal cost of asthma (including indirect costs) was h1726 (95% confidence interval [CI], h1314–h2154) per patient annually. Indirect costs accounted for 11.2% of the total. The cost to the National Health Service was h1533 (95% CI, h1133–h1946) per patient annually. The cost of asthma was higher for patients older than 65 years (h2079) and for those with more severe disease (h959 for intermittent asthma; h1598, mild asthma; h1553,