Regional, sex, and age inequities in asthma hospital admissions in Spain and Portugal

Background

Asthma presents a significant health challenge, imposing a considerable burden on healthcare services. Discrepancies in asthma-related hospitalisations may reflect underlying health disparities. We aimed to analyse inequities in asthma hospital admissions in mainland Portugal and Spain, from a regional perspective and considering sex and age.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study using data from the Spanish and Portuguese national hospitalisations databases. We calculated crude national and regional yearly hospitalisation rates according per Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics region. Additionally, we calculated hospitalisation rates adjusted for asthma prevalence and the female-to-male ratio in asthma hospital admissions per age group, considering the female-to-male ratio in the overall population.

Results

Between 2012 and 2016, there were 92,084 asthma hospital admissions in mainland Spain and 7717 in mainland Portugal. There was a trend for a higher-than-average rate of asthma-related hospitalisations in the Northern regions of both countries. Women had a hospitalisation rate that was 3.2 times higher than men. Age was associated with higher risk for asthma hospitalisation, with individuals aged 65 and older displaying a hospitalisation rate 4.5 times higher than those under 65. Additionally, while hospitalisations in women aged <65 years were 2.3 times more likely than in men of the same age, hospitalisations in women aged ≥65 years were 3.5 times higher than in men aged ≥65 years.

Conclusion

This study suggests that marked regional inequities in asthma hospital admissions exist in Spain and Portugal. Additionally, women are particularly at risk of hospitalisation due to asthma, and such risk increases with age.