BCN HEALTH publishes a study evaluating the incidence and medical costs of glaucoma in Spain

BCN HEALTH has published the study ‘Ambulatory and hospital care of glaucoma in Spain and associated medical costs’ in the journal ‘Journal of Medical Economics’, an international journal publishing original papers and rigorously peer-reviewed review articles in the pharmacoeconomics and healthcare research community.  

BCN HEALTH conducted a retrospective study based on administrative data corresponding to ambulatory visits and inpatient hospital admissions due to glaucoma in Spain between January of 2011 and December of 2020. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of glaucoma in ambulatory centers and hospitals in Spain over the past decade and to measure the associated direct medical costs and incidence.

Over the study period, 100,734 ambulatory care visits and 11,408 hospital admissions were registered due to glaucoma. Most of the cases were registered in patients over 65 years of age, and there were significantly more males than females. The most frequent comorbid conditions registered in hospital centers were essential hypertension, cataract, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia. 

The incidence of glaucoma was 2.2 per 10,000 persons in ambulatory settings and 0.2 per 10,000 persons in hospitals. The incidence increased significantly in ambulatory setting over the study period while it has decreased in hospitals. Most ambulatory visits and hospital admissions were programmed or non-urgent. The mean cost per ambulatory visit was €954 accounting for a €5.5 million in total annually. The mean cost per hospital admission was €3727accounting for a total of €4.1 million annually. The annual cost of ambulatory care increased significantly over the study period, while annual cost of hospital care decreased significantly.