Hepatitis C and Hepatitis C-related Advanced Liver Disease Hospitalisation Trends Before and after the Strategic Plan for Tackling Hepatitis C in the National Health System

Introduction This work evaluates the burden and trends of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-associated hospitalisations in Spain before and after the implementation of the Strategic Plan for Tackling Hepatitis C in the National Health System in 2015. Methods CV-related hospitalisation discharges from 2005 to 2017 were obtained from the National Registry of Hospitalisations. A descriptive analysis of the hospitalisations was performed. Results From 2005 to 2017, there were 674 067 HCV-related hospitalisations: 1.2%, 29.9%, 63.9% and 5% of them due to acute, carriers, chronic and unspecified hepatitis C. Average age of the patients was 57.7 years (SD: 16.4), average hospital stay was 9.1 days (SD: 12.2) and intra-hospital case-fatality rate was 6.5%. Hospitalisation rates decreased notably (P < 0.05) in 2016-2017 compared to 2005-2015 for all [hospitalisation rate ratio (HRR): 0.77], males (HRR: 0.80), females (HRR: 0.74), chronic hepatitis C (HRR: 0.84), non-advanced liver disease (N-AdLD) (HRR: 0.80) and AdLD (HRR: 0.73). Acute HCV (HRR: 0.54) and carriers (HRR: 0.49) show decreases in 2016-2017 vs. 2005-2015, although their rates started to decrease in 2008/2009. Unspecified HCV hospitalisation rates increased (P < 0.05) in 2016-2017 (HRR: 2.02) vs. 2005-2015. From 2015 to 2017, cost per patient increased from 5981 euros to 6349 euros, but overall cost decreased, as hospitalisations rates decreased from 302 to 264 million euros. Discussion HCV-related hospitalisation rates decreased notably in 2016 and 2017 after the strategic plan for tackling hepatitis C was launched. Although cost per AdLD patient increased in 2016 and 2017, globally costs were reduced around 35 million euros per year. Copyright (C) 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.