Impact of Population Aging on the Colombian Health System: A Real-World Data Analysis

OBJECTIVES: Using the SISPRO database from the Ministry of Health, which contains nationwide patient information since 2009, we assessed the proportion of patients attended, of medical attentions and of hospital bed utilization among individuals aged 65 and 80 or older during the period 2009-2022.

METHODS: Employing SISPRO, we calculated the yearly percentage of patients aged over 65 and over 80 who received medical attention, as well as the percentage of total attentions provided and the percentage of occupied hospital bed days.

RESULTS: The annual number of attentions offered by the Colombian healthcare system progressively increased from 156 million in 2009 to 466 million in 2022. In 2009, the percentage of patients aged over 65 and over 80 who were attended was 7.0% and 1.5%, respectively. By 2022, these figures rose to 13.2% for those over 65 and 3.3% for those over 80. A similar trend was observed in the number of attentions provided, with percentages increasing from 13.2% and 2.1% in 2009 to 23.9% and 6.7% in 2022 for patients over 65 and over 80, respectively. In 2009, 20.4% of all hospital bed days were for patients over 65, reaching 27.5% in 2022 (41.6% in the pandemic year of 2020). For patients over 80, the figures were 6.7% in 2009 and 9.7% in 2022 (12.3% in 2020).

CONCLUSIONS: Latin America is experiencing a rapid demographic shift characterized by an aging population, driven by increased life expectancy and decreased fertility rates. This demographic transition poses and will continue to pose significant pressure on the healthcare system.