Bronchial asthma healthcare costs in Mexico: analysis of trends from 1991-1996 with information from the Mexican Institute of Social Security.
Cost trends for bronchial asthma have not been previously estimated in Mexico. The increasing prevalence of bronchial asthma as well as its elevated costs make it necessary to expand the availability of information for health planners. This is a growing problem which has been given little attention in national health reports. We did a descriptive, retrospective analysis using national data from the Mexican Institute for Social Security. We estimated the number of medical consultations provided by the state family medicine and specialty areas. A total of 756,843 consultations due to bronchial asthma were provided between 1991 and 1996 in the service areas under study. The healthcare expenditure for bronchial asthma showed an ascending and sustained trend during the study period. When analyzing the trends by type of service, a significant increase in in-hospital care was observed, ranging from US $14.5 (1991) to $19.8 (1996) million and a maximum of $28.4 (1994) million. A similar increase was found in specialty consultation, from $3.96 (1991) to $8.5 (1996) million; in emergencies, from $1. 1 (1991) to $2.9 (1996) million; and family medicine, from $0.66 (1991) to $0.79 (1996) million. Bronchial asthma follows the same pattern as other noncommunicable chronic diseases, increasing in highly urbanized areas and nationwide. In order to improve healthcare and maximize results with scarce resources, a set of strategies is presented to reduce bronchial asthma recurrence, decrease healthcare costs, and improve quality of life.
Rico-Méndez
F G
FG
Pneumology Department, Gaudencio González Garza General Hospital, Mexican Social Security Institute, Morelos, Mexico City.
Barquera
S
S
Cabrera
D A
DA
Escobedo
S
S
Ochoa
L G
LG
Massey-Reynaud
L F
LF
D000047:Academies and Institutes; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics*; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D011788:Quality of Life; D012943:Social Security