BURDEN OF DISEASE AND PATIENT JOURNEY OF COPD IN BRAZIL: A REAL-WORLD EVIDENCE STUDY USING LINKED PUBLIC DATABASES
Author(s)
Tulio Tadeu R. Sarmento, MSc, PharmD1, Wender Aparecido De Oliveira, Sr., MA2, Alexandra Mariano Fidêncio, MSc2, Glícia P. Bezerra, MSc2, Agnes N. Gossenheimer, PhD2, Marisa Treglia, PhD2.
1Data analysis specialist, Precision Data Engineering & Data Science, Contagem, Brazil, 2Chiesi, Santana de Parnaíba, Brazil.
1Data analysis specialist, Precision Data Engineering & Data Science, Contagem, Brazil, 2Chiesi, Santana de Parnaíba, Brazil.
OBJECTIVES: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) imposes a significant public health burden due to disease exacerbations and frequent comorbidities. This study aims to describe the patient journey and clinical burden of COPD patients in Brazil, assessing both outpatient and hospital complications, to generate evidence to support the formulation of health policies to address this population's needs.
METHODS: This retrospective longitudinal study utilized the Nexus database (2022-2024), a deterministic linkage of the Brazilian Public Health System’s outpatient (SIA/SUS) and hospital (SIH/SUS) information systems, an approach developed by data contractor Precision Data. The Nexus database utilizes high-specificity linkage algorithms to overcome the absence of a unique patient identifier in Brazilian public data, ensuring accurate patient tracking across care settings. Mortality was captured exclusively from inpatient records. The data analysis is reported in terms of both absolute and relative frequency.
RESULTS: A total of 82,908 patients were identified, totaling 141,591 patient-years, with 55.39% being female. During the follow-up, 99.17% of patients had outpatient events (including consultations, exams, and medication dispensing), and 49.66% utilized LABA/LAMA therapeutic regimens. Hospitalizations occurred in 38.08% of the cohort. A total of 5,683 deaths were recorded (mean age at death: 72.5 years). Regarding mortality causes, 22.33% were related to COPD, 26.66% to other respiratory causes, and 11.53% to cardiovascular diseases.
CONCLUSIONS: The analysis demonstrates a substantial COPD burden in Brazil, with nearly 40% of patients requiring hospitalization within a three-year horizon. Furthermore, over 60% of observed deaths were related to cardiorespiratory causes. These findings underscore the fundamental need for measures that address the clinical management of patients to reduce hospitalizations, which impact both patient quality of life and health system costs.
METHODS: This retrospective longitudinal study utilized the Nexus database (2022-2024), a deterministic linkage of the Brazilian Public Health System’s outpatient (SIA/SUS) and hospital (SIH/SUS) information systems, an approach developed by data contractor Precision Data. The Nexus database utilizes high-specificity linkage algorithms to overcome the absence of a unique patient identifier in Brazilian public data, ensuring accurate patient tracking across care settings. Mortality was captured exclusively from inpatient records. The data analysis is reported in terms of both absolute and relative frequency.
RESULTS: A total of 82,908 patients were identified, totaling 141,591 patient-years, with 55.39% being female. During the follow-up, 99.17% of patients had outpatient events (including consultations, exams, and medication dispensing), and 49.66% utilized LABA/LAMA therapeutic regimens. Hospitalizations occurred in 38.08% of the cohort. A total of 5,683 deaths were recorded (mean age at death: 72.5 years). Regarding mortality causes, 22.33% were related to COPD, 26.66% to other respiratory causes, and 11.53% to cardiovascular diseases.
CONCLUSIONS: The analysis demonstrates a substantial COPD burden in Brazil, with nearly 40% of patients requiring hospitalization within a three-year horizon. Furthermore, over 60% of observed deaths were related to cardiorespiratory causes. These findings underscore the fundamental need for measures that address the clinical management of patients to reduce hospitalizations, which impact both patient quality of life and health system costs.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-05, ISPOR 2026, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue S6
Code
RWD132
Topic
Real World Data & Information Systems
Topic Subcategory
Health & Insurance Records Systems
Disease
No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas, SDC: Respiratory-Related Disorders (Allergy, Asthma, Smoking, Other Respiratory)