[Acute coronary syndromes in Landspítali 2003-2012].

BACKGROUND: Marked changes in the epidemiology of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) have been observed over the last few decades in the Western Hemisphere. Incidence rates of ACS in Iceland 2003-2012 are presented. METHODS: All patients with unstable angina (UA), non ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and ST-elevation myocardial infarc-tion (STEMI) admitted to Landspitali were included in the study. Data were obtained from hospital records and changes during the period were examined. RESULTS: The total number of ACS cases was 7,502. STEMI incidence was reduced from 98/100,000 inhabitants in 2003 to 63 in 2012, a reduction of nearly 36%. Age standardized incidence rates of STEMI declined annually by 5.5% in men and 5.3% in women (p <0.05). Incidence of NSTEMI increased from 54 /100,000 inhabitants in 2003 to 93 in 2012. UA patients were 56/100,000 inhabitants in 2003, 115 in 2008 and 50 in 2012. No significant annual change in age-standardized incidence rates of NSTEMI and UA was observed. About 35% of patients with NSTEMI and 30% with STEMI and UA were female. The mean age of NSTEMI patients was 72 years, five years higher than patients with STEMI and UA. About 30% of -pat-ients were living outside of the capital region. CONCLUSIONS: 2003-2012 there was a significant 5% annual -decrease in the number of STEMI cases and a tendency to -increasing incidence of NSTEMI which by the end of the research period was the most common of the syndromes. An unusual development in the incidence of UA was observed. Possible effect of psychological stress in the society should be considered.

Cross-country comparisons of health-care costs: the case of cancer treatment in the Nordic countries.

The objective of this study is to perform a cross-country comparison of cancer treatment costs in the Nordic countries, and to demonstrate the added value of decomposing documented costs in interpreting national differences. The study is based on individual-level data from national patient and prescription drug registers, and data on cancer prevalence from the NORDCAN database. Hospital costs were estimated on the basis of information on diagnosis-related groups (DRG) cost weights and national unit costs. Differences in per capita costs were decomposed into two stages: stage one separated the price and volume components, and stage two decomposed the volume component, relating the level of activity to service needs and availability. Differences in the per capita costs of cancer treatment between the Nordic countries may be as much as 30 per cent. National differences in the costs of treatment mirror observed differences in total health care costs. Differences in health care costs between countries may relate to different sources of variation with different policy implications. Comparisons of per capita spending alone can be misleading if the purpose is to evaluate, for example, differences in service provision and utilisation. The decomposition analysis helps to identify the relative influence of differences in the prevalence of cancer, service utilisation and productivity.