Expenditures on the treatment of osteoporosis in the elderly in Brazil (2008 - 2010): analysis of associated factors

Objective: To analyze the expenditure of the Ministry of Health with osteoporosis treatment in the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) in 2008-2010 triennium and estimate the influence of demographic, regional and disease related variables on average expenditure per procedures performed. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study based on secondary data from DATASUS related to procedures for the elderly with a diagnosis of osteoporosis and related fractures. For the statistical analysis and multivariate model, Stata 11.0 was used. Results: According to the findings, 3,252,756 procedures related to the osteoporosis treatment among the elderly were carried out in Brazil during the 2008 - 2010 period, totalizing R$ 288,986,335.15. The age group that most had procedures was 60 - 69 years (46.3%); the population of 80 years or older showed the highest spending per procedure, around R$ 106 million in three years. The women were majority in terms of quantity (95.6%) and expense (76%) of procedures. The average cost per procedure showed a large gap between men and women, nearly 7 times (R$ 480.14 versus R$ 70.85, respectively). The ambulatory care procedures predominated in quantity (96.4%) and the hospital procedures predominated in resources (70.4%). It was found that there is no single standard for groups of procedures when these are analyzed separately. Conclusion: A disaggregated analysis of expenditure by procedures groups extracted from the SUS Management System of the Table of Procedures, Medicines, Orthotics, Prosthetics and Special Materials allowed a detailed overview of federal spending on the osteoporosis treatment in the elderly from Brazil.