Abstract
Our study aimed at determining the economic burden of leisure-time physical inactivity in hospitalizations due to dementia in Brazil. In this national-wide descriptive study, we used secondary data from the Brazilian Health Informatics Department and from the latest Brazilian National Health Survey (2013). Rate of hospitalization and economic cost were extracted from 2013. Leisure-time physical inactivity prevalence was used to estimate its population attributable fraction for dementia. Outcomes were stratified into sex (man/woman), age groups (< 50, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+), ethnicity (white, black, mixed race, other), and region (South, Southeast, North, Northeast, and Central). In 2013, 3,724 people were hospitalized due to dementia in Brazil resulting in a total cost of BRL 17,971,833.85 (USD 7,673,973.05). More than half of cost among men was spent with individuals younger than 59 years, white and mixed-race, and from Southeast region. Proportion of cost was higher in women older than 60 years and white. In 2013, 37% of all hospitalization from dementia in Brazil were attributable to physical inactivity, with values reaching 42.9% and 43.8% for men and women aged 80 or older, respectively. Physical inactivity cost BRL 6,994,254.75 (USD 2,986,546.78) in 2013 on hospitalizations due to dementia in Brazil. Higher attributable-cost was found for patients younger than 50 years and women older than 80. Strategies to preserve the quality of life of these patients are needed to reduce the burden for the patients, their family, and on the healthcare system.
Highlights
Dementia is a chronic and degenerative syndrome that affected around 50 million people in 2019 1
Our study reported that 37% from all 3,724 hospitalizations due to dementia at Brazil in 2013 was linked to physical inactivity resulting in an economic burden of Brazilian Real (BRL) 6,994,254.75 (95%CI: 2,311,879.12; 10,454,848.60)
The number of studies that evaluated the economic impact of physical inactivity in hospital admissions in Brazil is limited
Summary
Dementia is a chronic and degenerative syndrome that affected around 50 million people in 2019 1. Population growth, ageing, and increased prevalence of dementia-related risk factors lead Brazil to the second highest age-standardized prevalence of dementia in the world, affecting about 1.7 million people 2. Whereas the number of deaths attributable to dementia decreased in the last 10 years in some Latin American countries 2, the mortality rate from this disease increased annually about 12% in men and 13% in women in Brazil from 2000 to 2008 3. Patients with dementia have higher prevalence of comorbidities compared to cognitively healthy older people 4. Besides leading to increased rate of hospitalization 5, the treatment of those comorbidities is more complex 6, expensive 7, and unequal 4 in patients suffering dementia, resulting in longer and more costly hospital admissions 4. Longer hospitalizations are linked to higher incidence of cognitive decline that may become irreversible if treated incorrectly 8,9
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