OBJECTIVES: More than 250,000 infected cases and 28,000 deaths have been reported in Spain associated to the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study was to quantify the burden of the COVID-19 in terms of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) losses in Spain.

METHODS: We followed the procedures described by Briggs [1] using the latest available official data for COVID-19 pandemic in Spain as for July 1^st, 2020. Using standard life table estimates for life expectancy, QALYs were computed adjusting for Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR), the impact of comorbidities on patients’ quality of life (QoL) (qCM) and the Spanish EQ-5D tariffs. Results were discounted at an annual rate of 3%. Different scenarios were built changing SMR and qCM values; total QALY losses were estimated using COVID-19-specific mortality data.

RESULTS: Mean QALY loss per COVID-19 death in Spain was between 6.5 (SMR=1 and qCM=100%) and 3.2 (SMR=3 and qCM=80%). These results were in line with those for the UK calculated by Briggs [1] using the same parameter values: 6.1 and 3.0, respectively. Applying those results to total reported COVID-19 deaths (as for July 1^st, 2020), the total discounted QALY loss is estimated to be between 90,762 and 184,359.

CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 deaths are associated to significant QALY losses even after adjusting for increased fatality of age, comorbidities and reduced QoL. This information may be helpful to design policy interventions to reduce the impact of the pandemic.

REFERENCES:

1. Briggs A. Life expectancy and QALY losses for COVID-19 fatalities [Internet]. 2020 Apr 20 [accessed 2020 May 05]. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/life-expectancy-qaly-losses-covid-19-fatalities-andrew-briggs/