Substantial Healthcare Resource Utilization in Patients Diagnosed With Viral Lower Respiratory Tract Disease in Spain

OBJECTIVES: To describe healthcare resource utilization in patients diagnosed with viral lower respiratory tract disease (LRTD) in Spain in 2022.

METHODS: Presented results were sourced from available public data by "Ministerio de Sanidad. Subdirección General de Información Sanitaria. Registro de Actividad de Atención Especializada – RAE-CMBD" (https://pestadistico.inteligenciadegestion.sanidad.gob.es/PUBLICOSNS, data accessed in June 2024). We selected data of patients diagnosed with viral LRTD (ICD-10 codes: U07.1, J09, J10, J11, J12, J12.0, J12.1, J12.2, J12.3, J12.8, J12.81, J12.82, J12.89, J12.9, J21.0, J21.1, J21.9, J22) in 2022 in Spain.

RESULTS: We found that in 2022 there were a total of 739,932 cases of unscheduled contacts (i.e., hospitalizations and/or emergency room visits) in hospitals in Spain, directly related to viral LRTD. 48.4% of the cases corresponded to men and 39.6% to patients over 65 years of age (all age groups were considered). Hospitalizations reached a total of 205,673 (27.8%). Emergency room visits amounted to 534,259 (72.2%). The number of contacts related to diagnoses other than COVID-19, was 227,658 (30.8%) contacts.

The mean length of stay per hospitalization was 8.2 days, and 10,636 (5.2%) hospitalizations resulted in admission to the ICU, with a hospital mean length of stay of 25.5 days, of which 15 days were spent in the ICU. The mean All Patient Refined (APR) cost per hospitalization was €4,993 and €20,767 per ICU admission

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a substantial healthcare resources use is occurring in patients with severe viral LRTD in Spain. Further research and innovative management options are needed to better understand these results and to develop interventions to reduce disease burden in these patients.