title: [Acute asthma and its costs of care at an emergency service].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The request in the urgency service for attention in acute asthma is determined by multiple factors as the medical handling, the constancy and the pursuance of the patient in the adequate follow up of the treatment, the climate, the food hygienic habits and the allergies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine in one year period, the frequency, recurrence of medical attention for acute asthma and the cost in the hospital urgency service of second level in medical attention.
  
  
  METHODS
  We made an analysis of a secondary study done in 1999 in pediatric patients younger than 16 years with diagnosis of acute asthma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 6,912 consultations given in the pediatric emergency area, 2,586 were from acute asthma, the half was 5.2 years old patients, the minimal average time a patient had to stay in the hospital per month was of 7.36 hours in January and the maximum average time was of 22.10 hours in the month of September. Regarding the frequency of attendance in the service for a new event, the following distribution was found: from two to three 25.72%, from 4 to 6 10.1% and from 7 to 15 0.96%. The cost of the attention had a total cost of 5'787,494.82 pesos.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of acute asthma was 41.58% and this figure was considered high in comparison to similar studies. The clinic evolution and the treatment response are related to the age, and, in the study results, the patients younger than 3 years had a longer stay in the hospital, also, there was an increase of patients in the rainy months. The frequency of patients who assisted between 2 or 3 times and the cost was 387,123.00 pesos. That frequency may be due to patients did not receive a long-term treatment provision, or because of ignorance in the initial rescue treatment, ignorance in the factors that raise the sickness, as well as patients not taking their treatment the way it was asked by the doctors. These factors increase the cost, which is feasible to be modifyied, if the patients and their families get acknowledge on the importance of respecting the instructions on the proper way of treating the acute asthma, and all the triggering factors of it.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Investigación en Epidemiología Clínica, Hospital de Ginecopediatría número 7 del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), Quintana Roo, México.
authors.forename: Gladiz Guadalupe
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Salgado Aguilar
authors.forename: Zoila Inés
authors.initials: ZI
authors.lastname: Ceballos Martínez
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sandoval Jurado
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hernández Colín
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000293:Adolescent; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016527:Drug Costs; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012008:Recurrence; D012621:Seasons; D013224:Status Asthmaticus / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents