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

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. 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. 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. 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.