REAL-WORLD TREATMENT PATTERNS AND HOSPITALIZATION FREQUENCY OF ASTHMA IN THE BRAZILIAN PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM
Author(s)
Tulio Tadeu R. Sarmento, MSc, PharmD1, Glícia P. Bezerra, MSc2, Alexandra Mariano Fidêncio, MSc2, Marisa Treglia, PhD2, Agnes N. Gossenheimer, PhD2, Wender Aparecido De Oliveira, Sr., MA2.
1UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2Chiesi, Santana de Parnaíba, Brazil.
1UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2Chiesi, Santana de Parnaíba, Brazil.
OBJECTIVES: Asthma exacerbations are a heavy burden on patients' quality of life, requiring effective clinical management. This study aimed to characterize demographic profiles, treatment patterns, and hospitalization frequency among asthma patients within the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) to identify potential gaps in therapeutic management.
METHODS: This retrospective longitudinal study gathered data from the SUS outpatient (SIA) and inpatient (SIH) information systems between 2022-2024. Patients were identified through drugs dispensing claims associated with ICD-10 codes J45.0, J45.1, or J45.8. Unique identifiers were the National Health Card (CNS) for SIA and a deterministic key (birthdate-zipcode-sex) for SIH. The most frequent regimen during the follow-up defined each patient's treatment group.
RESULTS: A total of 424,681 patients were identified, of whom 65.99% (n=280,238) were female, with a mean age of 52.13 years. The vast majority of patients (96.10%; n=408,148) were managed with Long-Acting Beta-Agonists/Inhaled Corticosteroids (LABA/ICS). The remaining distribution included ICS (1.57%), immunobiologicals (1.56%), LABA (0.74%), and SABA (<0.01%). Among immunobiological users (n=6,676), mepolizumab was predominant (61.18%), when compared to omalizumab (38.82%). The analysis identified 220,687 asthma-related hospitalizations involving 196,507 distinct individuals, which accounts to 45.27% of the 424,681 patients identified under treatment for asthma during the 3-year follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS: The analysis demonstrates that 96.10% of asthma patients in SUS underwent treatment with fixed-dose LABA/ICS. As the national guideline recommends this regimen starting at the third step, these findings suggest patients may be initiating this therapy early or accumulating at this stage without progression. This concentration might indicate a gap in alternatives for patients with uncontrolled asthma, mismatching GINA international guidelines, which define the triple-fixed combination of LABA/LAMA/ICS as an additional option. This can be corroborated by the high frequency of patients undergoing hospitalizations (almost 46%, asthma-related only, no complications considered so the actual number could be greater), suggesting a low control of symptoms.
METHODS: This retrospective longitudinal study gathered data from the SUS outpatient (SIA) and inpatient (SIH) information systems between 2022-2024. Patients were identified through drugs dispensing claims associated with ICD-10 codes J45.0, J45.1, or J45.8. Unique identifiers were the National Health Card (CNS) for SIA and a deterministic key (birthdate-zipcode-sex) for SIH. The most frequent regimen during the follow-up defined each patient's treatment group.
RESULTS: A total of 424,681 patients were identified, of whom 65.99% (n=280,238) were female, with a mean age of 52.13 years. The vast majority of patients (96.10%; n=408,148) were managed with Long-Acting Beta-Agonists/Inhaled Corticosteroids (LABA/ICS). The remaining distribution included ICS (1.57%), immunobiologicals (1.56%), LABA (0.74%), and SABA (<0.01%). Among immunobiological users (n=6,676), mepolizumab was predominant (61.18%), when compared to omalizumab (38.82%). The analysis identified 220,687 asthma-related hospitalizations involving 196,507 distinct individuals, which accounts to 45.27% of the 424,681 patients identified under treatment for asthma during the 3-year follow-up.
CONCLUSIONS: The analysis demonstrates that 96.10% of asthma patients in SUS underwent treatment with fixed-dose LABA/ICS. As the national guideline recommends this regimen starting at the third step, these findings suggest patients may be initiating this therapy early or accumulating at this stage without progression. This concentration might indicate a gap in alternatives for patients with uncontrolled asthma, mismatching GINA international guidelines, which define the triple-fixed combination of LABA/LAMA/ICS as an additional option. This can be corroborated by the high frequency of patients undergoing hospitalizations (almost 46%, asthma-related only, no complications considered so the actual number could be greater), suggesting a low control of symptoms.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-05, ISPOR 2026, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue S6
Code
RWD165
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)