Epidemiological trend of hepatitis C-related liver events in Spain (2000–2015): A nationwide population-based study

•The real disease burden of Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection is underestimated.•Epidemiological trends of CHC infection and its clinical stages.•Provides a framework to evaluate future healthcare policies. Analysis the epidemiological trends of hospital admissions, intra-hospital deaths, and costs related to chronic hepatitis C (CHC) taking into account four major clinical stages [compensated cirrhosis (CC), end-stage liver disease (ESLD), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and liver transplantation (LT)] in Spain. Retrospective study in patients with chronic hepatitis C and a hospital admission in the Spanish Minimum Basic Data Set from 2000 to 2015. Outcome variables were admission, death, length of hospital stay and costs. A total of 868,523 hospital admissions with CHC (25.5% CC, 25.3% ESLD, 8.6% HCC, and 2.5% LT) were identified. Overall rates of admission and mortality increased from 2000–2003 to 2004–2007, but after 2008, these rates stabilized and/or decreased. An upward trend was found for hospitalization percentage in CC (from 22.3% to 30%; p