National trends in hospital admissions for asthma exacerbations among pediatric and young adult population in Spain (2002-2010).

OBJECTIVE: To assess the changes in incidence, use of mechanical ventilation, length of stay (LOS), costs and mortality of children (0-15 years) and young adults (16-45 years) hospitalized for asthma exacerbations. METHODS: We included patients hospitalized for asthma exacerbations in Spain from 2002 to 2010 (ICD9-CM codes 493.0x-493.9x). The data were collected from the National Hospital Discharge Database (entire population). We calculated the yearly age- and sex-specific incidence rates for each of the two groups. RESULTS: We included a total of 12,038 pediatric patients and 2792 young adults hospitalized for asthma exacerbations. Overall crude incidence decreased from 20.5 to 18.7 admissions per 100.000 inhabitants in the pediatric group (p < 0.05), and from 4.12 to 3.68 admissions per 100.000 inhabitants among young adults, from 2002 to 2010 (p < 0.05). By contrast, we detected a significant increase in the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in both groups. The average LOS decreased during the study period, from 3.71 (SD 2.28) to 3.16 (SD 2.11) days (p < 0.05) among pediatric patients and there were not changes among young adults. During the study period, the mean cost per patient decreased from 1558.53 (SD 443.63) to 1378.41 (SD 472.71) euros in the pediatric group (p < 0.05), while increased from 2183.44 (SD 783.15) to 2564.32 (SD 1933.98) euros among young adults (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest a decrease in the incidence of hospital admissions for asthma exacerbations with concomitant increase in use of NIV in asthmatic patients, both pediatric and young adults patients. Although LOS and mean cost have decreased among pediatric patients, they have not changed and increased, respectively, among young adults. A better management of the disease at primary care services may explain the improvement in the incidence and outcomes.

[External assessment of the GEMA2009 recommendations by a multidisciplinary expert panel on asthma]. / Valoración externa de las recomendaciones de la GEMA2009 por un panel multiprofesional de expertos en asma.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of agreement on the GEMA 2009 clinical recommendations by a Spanish expert panel on asthma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was divided into four stages: 1) establishment of a 9 member scientific committee (GEMA authors) for selection of GEMA recommendations to use in the survey; 2) formation of a panel of 74 professionals with expertise in this field (pulmonologists, allergists, family doctors, ear, nose and throat and paediatric specialists); 3) Delphi survey in two rounds, sent by mail, with intermediate processing of opinions and a report to the panel members; and 4) analysis and discussion of results for the Scientific Committee. RESULTS: Seventy four participants completed the two rounds of survey. During the first round, a consensus was reached in 49 out of 56 questions analysed. Following discussion by the panel, the consensus was increased to a total of 53 items in the survey. With respect to the remaining questions, Insufficient consensus was obtained on the rest of the questions, due to differing views between sub-specialists, or lack of criteria by most of the experts. CONCLUSIONS: The external analysis by asthma experts from different specialities showed a high level of professional agreement with the GEMA 2009 recommendations in Spain (96.5%). The disagreement shown in three recommendations reflect the lack of a high level evidence. These issues represent areas of interest for future research.