Management and current status of spinal muscular atrophy: a retrospective multicentre claims database analysis

Introduction The interest in patient demographics and disease management has increased in the past years due to their utility in developing measures that allow healthcare providers to reflect disease complexity. Objective To revise the current status of spinal muscular atrophy in the region of Catalonia, and to validate the utility of the database for this aim. Methods Five hundred twenty-four patients diagnosed with a spinal muscular atrophy were identified in the region of Catalonia via the novel program of data analysis for research and innovation in health (PADRIS). Patient records included in the analysis corresponded to primary care, hospital, emergency room, extended care and mental health admissions between 2007 and 2017. Results 58.02% of patients with a SMA diagnosis were males while 40.84% were females. Average age of diagnosis was 38.31 +/- 24.49 years +/- SD. Significantly lower was the age of diagnosis of spinal muscular atrophy type I, 1.81 +/- 3.01 years. An average of 22 patients died per year during the study period, with a mean decease age of 62.96 +/- 25.41 years. Patients were generally attended in hospitals, and the use of healthcare resources was focused on resolving respiratory issues and scoliosis. The highest ratio of admissions per patient was registered in those aged 0 to 4 years. Patients presented a higher risk than the general population and a higher frequency of multimorbidites. Conclusions Patients exhibited similar characteristics to prior European studies. Multiple admissions in younger patients, mostly due to respiratory issues, have a central role in increasing medical costs of SMA. Equally, the higher risk of patients and increased number of multimorbidity groups translate in an elevated number of admissions in health centres and ER, deriving in higher expenses.