Abstract
A program for ambulatory adult asthmatic patients (>15 years) was developed and progressively implemented in the Chilean National Health System since 2001. It provides free access to standardized treatment according to evidence based guidelines. Today, more than 120.000 patients are included in this program in 550 Primary Care Centers along the country. A progressive reduction in hospitalization rate (0.28 to 0.18/1000 inhabitant-years) and average hospital stay (1.57 to 1.17/1000 inhabitant-years) was observed during the decade 2000-2010.
To identify exacerbation factors and to follow the evolution post discharge, 323 patients admitted during 2011 (J45-46; CIE 10) to 12 Chilean Public Health hospitals along the country, participated in a 3 step observational study (GRADI: Difficult Asthma Group) This is the first step report of an standardized medical discharge evaluation of this group of patients.
Resoults: The group was similar in age, male/female ratio and hospital stay, to all discharged cases (n=2149) in 2011 from the country public hospitals. Females were predominant (69.04%) with both sex similar age (P 50= 56 years) and a mortality of 1.24%. Only 89 cases (27.55%) belong to the 15-44 years group. Mean hospital stay was 5.5 days, with a male P50=4 and female P50=5 days. Both genders prolonged their stay according to their age group. In summary, this group admitted after 10 years of a National asthma program, ware predominant females, older than 45 years, with a positive association between age and hospital stay. Next GRADI steps will provide information on evolution and Clinical aspects of these patients to identify avoidable risk factors.
- © 2013 ERS