Abstract
Objectives
To estimate the direct healthcare costs of spinal disorders in Brazil over 2016.
Methods
This is a prevalence-based cost-of-illness study with a top-down approach from the perspective of the public healthcare system. All international Classification of Diseases codes related to spinal disorders were included. The following costs were obtained: (1) hospitalization; medical professional service costs; intensive care unit costs; companion daily stay; (2) outpatient (services/procedures). Data were analyzed descriptively and costs presented in US$.
Results
The healthcare system spent US$ 71.4 million, and inpatient care represented 58%. The number of inpatient days was 250,426, and there were 36,654 hospital admissions (dorsalgia and disk disorders representing 70% of the costs). More than 114,000 magnetic resonance scans and 107,000 computerized tomography scans were adopted. Men had more inpatient days (138,215) than women (112,211). Overall, the inpatient/outpatient cost ratio was twice as high for men.
Conclusions
We demonstrated that the direct costs of spinal disorders in Brazil in 2016 were considerable. We also found a substantial amount of financial resources spent on diagnostic imaging. This is relevant as the routine use of diagnostic imaging for back pain is discouraged in international guidelines.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge CAPES (Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education) for the Postdoctoral Research Abroad scholarship, Process No. 88881.120102/2016-01.
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The Institutional Research Ethics Committee granted approval for the present study (Protocol No. 1.969.372; 16/03/2017).
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An earlier version of this article was inadvertently published before peer review and then retracted (retracted version: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00038-018-1099-1). This publication is the final peer reviewed and revised version of the article.
Major revisions 27 August 2018
Minor revisions 18 January 2019
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Carregaro, R.L., da Silva, E.N. & van Tulder, M. Direct healthcare costs of spinal disorders in Brazil. Int J Public Health 64, 965–974 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-019-01211-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-019-01211-6