AUTHOR=Calderón-Moreno Jesús , Juárez-Vela Raúl , Delgado-Rodríguez María Jesús , Quintana-Díaz Manuel , Magallón-Botaya Rosa , Olivan-Blázquez Bárbara , Cobos-Rincón Ana , Santolalla-Arnedo Iván , Ramírez-Torres Carmen Amaia , Gea-Caballero Vicente , Andrés-Esteban Eva María TITLE=Approximation to the Consumption of Healthcare Resources and the Economic Cost of SARS-CoV-2 Patient Management: A Retrospective Study JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=10 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2022.843751 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2022.843751 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=

Spain has become one of the countries most affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with the highest testing rates, and one of the worst-performing countries in the fight against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. There are no studies related to the consumption of health resources and the economic cost of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We present a retrospective analysis of 9,811 (Primary Care and Hospital) patients which aimed to estimate public health expenditure by the consumption of health resources due to COVID-19. According to the results, the gender distribution of patients has a similar rate in both groups, with slightly higher rates in women. Similarly, age is the same in both groups, with a median of 62 years in the case of hospitalizations and 61 years in the case of primary care; using a weighted average of these rates and costs, we can estimate that the average cost of care per patient infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, regardless of the course is €2373.24. We conclude that a patient with COVID-19 without hospitalization costs €729.79, while the expenses of a hospitalized patient are between €4294.36 and €14440.68, if there is ICU admission.