Health care utilization and the associated costs attributable to cardiovascular disease in Ireland: a cross-sectional study

Danko Stamenic*, Anthony P Fitzgerald, Katarzyna A Gajewska, Kate N O'Neill, Margaret Bermingham, Jodi Cronin, Brenda M Lynch, Sarah M O'Brien, Sheena M McHugh, Claire M Buckley, Paul M Kavanagh, Patricia M Kearney, Linda M O'Keeffe

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and disability globally. We examined healthcare service utilization and costs attributable to CVD in Ireland in the period before the introduction of a major healthcare reform in 2016.

METHODS: Secondary analysis of data from 8 113 participants of the first wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. CVD was defined as having a self-reported doctor's diagnosis of myocardial infarction, angina, heart failure, stroke, atrial fibrillation or transient ischaemic attack. Participants self-reported the utilization of healthcare services in the year preceding the interview. Negative binomial regression with average marginal effects (AME) was used to estimate the incremental number of general practitioner (GP) and outpatient department (OPD) visits, accident and emergency department attendances and hospitalisations in population with CVD relative to population without CVD. We calculated the corresponding costs at individual and population levels, by gender and age groups.

RESULTS: The prevalence of CVD was 18.2% (95% CI: 17.3, 19.0) Participants with CVD reported higher utilization of all healthcare services. In adjusted models, having CVD was associated with incremental 1.19 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.39) GP and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.65, 0.93) OPD visits. There were twice as many incremental hospitalisations in males with CVD compared to females with CVD (AME (95% CI): 0.20 (0.16, 0.23) vs 0.10 (0.07, 0.14)). The incremental cost of healthcare service use in population with CVD was an estimated €352.2 million (95% CI: €272.8, €431.7), 93% of which was due to use of secondary care services.

CONCLUSION: We identified substantially increased use of healthcare services attributable to CVD in Ireland. Continued efforts aimed at CVD primary prevention and management are required.

Original languageEnglish
Article numberqcae014
Number of pages10
JournalEuropean heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes
Early online date21 Feb 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 21 Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.

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