OBJECTIVES: To identify patients with lung cancer who visited hospital during 2016 and to describe hospital resources used and costs associated through a healthcare claim database.

METHODS: Retrospective information from the Ambulatory and Patient´s Hospitalization database 2016 (6.5 million inhabitants as reference population) of the Spanish Minimum Basic Data Set (MBDS) were used. All hospital contacts of patients who had at least one diagnosis for lung cancer (C33-C34 using ICD-10) were collected. Socio-demographic information (age, sex), number of hospital contacts (hospitalization and outpatient care), length of stay (days), main diagnoses and procedures performed during hospitalization and outpatient care, and costs were extracted.

RESULTS: A total of 3,336 patients with lung cancer were identified: 70.3% men, mean age (standard deviation (SD)) 67 (11) years. A total of 1.913 hospitalization episodes (5 most frequent main diagnoses: C34.11 (5%), C34.90 (5%), C34.12 (35), J18.9 (2%), C79.31 (2%)) and 22,273 outpatient episodes were observed (5 most frequent main diagnoses: Z51.11 (44.3%), C34.90 (22.8%), Z51.12 (4.5%), Z51.0 (1.4%), C34.92 (1.1%)). A total of 284 (1.2%) patients died during a hospital episode.

Length of hospitalization for the overall sample was estimated in 17,606 days and a total healthcare costs were € 26.3 million. A patient has a mean (SD) length of stay at hospital of 9 (6) days and a mean cost per episode at inpatient and outpatient care of € 5,897 and € 673, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: Real-world data studies provides useful information regarding hospital resource use for a range of diseases where patients have a regular contact with hospital. Lung cancer patients caused an important use of health resources and associated costs for hospitals in Spain.