Hospital incidence and medical costs of polycythemia vera in Spain: a retrospective database analysis

Background Polycythemia vera (PV) is one of the most common chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms, yet, little data is available on the epidemiology of PV in Spain and the costs of its management. This study aimed to evaluate the hospital incidence and mortality rate of PV in Spain, and to estimate hospital medical costs. Methods Hospital admission records of patients with PV registered between 2005 and 2019 were obtained from a Spanish hospital discharge database and analyzed in a retrospective multicenter study. Results Admission files of 490 patients were reviewed. Median age was 74 years; patients presented numerous conditions associated to age, namely hypertension, diabetes or anemia. Hospital mortality rate was associated to pulmonary heart disease, respiratory conditions and kidney disease. Most of the files analyzed corresponded to inpatient admissions; hospital incidence decreased over the study period in patients over 60 years. Median admission cost was euro5580, increasing in patients deceased during the hospitalization. Admission cost increased significantly between 2006 and 2011. Conclusions This study provides an evaluation of hospital management and costs of PV in Spain. Future studies should focus on the revision of disease management in the country and measuring total medical costs, which could be higher than global estimations.