Health care utilization and the associated costs attributable to cardiovascular disease in Ireland: a cross-sectional study

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality and disability globally. We examined healthcare service utilization and costs attributable to CVD in Ireland in the period before the introduction of a major healthcare reform in 2016. Methods Secondary analysis of data from 8113 participants of the first wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. Cardiovascular disease was defined as having a self-reported doctor’s diagnosis of myocardial infarction, angina, heart failure, stroke, atrial fibrillation, or transient ischaemic attack. Participants self-reported the utilization of healthcare services in the year preceding the interview. Negative binomial regression with average marginal effects (AMEs) was used to estimate the incremental number of general practitioner (GP) and outpatient department (OPD) visits, accident and emergency department attendances and hospitalizations in population with CVD relative to population without CVD. We calculated the corresponding costs at individual and population levels, by gender and age groups. Results The prevalence of CVD was 18.2% (95% CI: 17.3, 19.0) Participants with CVD reported higher utilization of all healthcare services. In adjusted models, having CVD was associated with incremental 1.19 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99, 1.39] GP and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.65, 0.93) OPD visits. There were twice as many incremental hospitalizations in males with CVD compared to females with CVD [AME (95% CI): 0.20 (0.16, 0.23) vs. 0.10 (0.07, 0.14)]. The incremental cost of healthcare service use in population with CVD was an estimated €352.2 million (95% CI: €272.8, €431.7), 93% of which was due to use of secondary care services. Conclusion We identified substantially increased use of healthcare services attributable to CVD in Ireland. Continued efforts aimed at CVD primary prevention and management are required.