Resource consumption and healthcare costs of acute coronary syndrome: a retrospective observational administrative database analysis.

The objective of this study was to estimate resource consumption and direct healthcare costs of patients with a first hospitalization for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in 2008 in the Piedmont Region, Italy. Subjects hospitalized with a first episode of ACS in 2008 were selected from the regional hospital discharge database. All hospitalizations, drug prescriptions, and outpatient episodes of care in the 12 months following discharge were considered to estimate resource consumption and direct healthcare costs from the Piedmont Regional Health Service perspective. The analysis was carried out separately for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and unstable angina (UA) populations. In the accrual period, 7765 subjects (1.75‰ of the total population) were hospitalized for ACS (64.2% men). The average age was 66.5 for men and 75.4 for women. The average in-hospital mortality was 6.5% (n = 508). The total ACS population was classified as: STEMI 45.2%, NSTEMI 29.4%, and UA 25.4%. The average yearly costs per patient alive at the end of follow-up (n = 6851) were 14,160.8&OV0556; (18,678.7 USD): 83.9% for inpatient admissions [11,881.2&OV0556; (15,671.8 USD)], 9.3% for drugs [1311.6&OV0556; (1730.1 USD)], 5.0% for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and outpatient visits [708.2&OV0556; (934.1 USD)], and 1.8% for 1-day hospital stays [259.8&OV0556; (342.7 USD)]. The average yearly direct healthcare costs by ACS event were 14,984.5&OV0556; (19,765.2 USD) for STEMI, 14,554.1&OV0556; (19,197.4 USD) for NSTEMI, and 12,481.5&OV0556; (16,463.6 USD) for UA. In each subpopulation, costs were significantly higher for men than for women. ACS imposes a significant burden in terms of morbidity and mortality and generates major public health service costs.