OBJECTIVES: The dispensing of nutritional formulas for the management of clinical pathologies has increased remarkably during the last 2 years, showing an increase in the cost of health dispensations, this increase is justified in part by the inclusion in the health benefits plan. For this reason, this study analyzes the dispensing of these nutritional formulas and calculates the per capita cost for Colombia

METHODS: A descriptive analysis of the dispensing of the year 2022 was carried out with the databases of a pharmaceutical manager, the amounts of oral administration liquid and powder formulas were included, it was classified by pathology of use, and it was valued with the prices adjusted to the drug system of the Colombian Ministry of Health. The per capita value was obtained with the population reported by the national planning department for 2022

RESULTS: There is an increase in the frequency of use, for 2021 of 5.2/100,000 users compared to 7.2/100,000 users in 2022. The classification by indication of use of nutritional showed a higher frequency of use for patients in critical care with 33.0%, followed by malnutrition with 29.7%, diabetes 12.1%. The national per capita cost would be around COP 1,063 per year (USD 0.22).

CONCLUSIONS: The per capita cost of feeding formulas nutritional dispensing for 2022 corresponds to 0.11% of the UPC for the same year.