[Approximation to the budgetary cost of universalizing oral health in Spain]

OBJECTIVE

To make an approximation to an estimate of the impact that an increase in the portfolio of oral health benefits would have on public health spending, which would at least cover most of the therapeutic treatments that households currently pay for privately.

METHOD

This estimate is based on the level of expenditure on dental services of the Health Accounts System for the year 2020. The data of increased demand is extracted from a RAND's study on universalization of services. Then we carry out various linear projections of increased spending by introducing several linear co-payment assumptions to explore the impact of different mixed financing mechanisms.

RESULTS

The increase in the demand for treatment would be 47.54% with respect to the current level of spending and that, under the starting assumptions, the increase in public spending would reach some 5345 million euros. Various co-pay scenarios could reduce budget impact.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the improvement in the oral health of the Spanish population, there are still problems derived from the existence of a socioeconomic gradient that promotes the concentration of the presence and prevalence of diseases in the lowest socioeconomic levels. Extending the services of the oral-dental portfolio to attend to the entire population would increase public health spending by 0.48 points over GDP and, even so, Spanish public health spending would continue to be below the EU-27 average.

Burden of overweight and obesity in Mexico from 1990 to 2021

BACKGROUND

Overweight and obesity (OW/OB) represent a serious challenge in Mexico, with effects on health, society and economy. Demographic, epidemiological, nutritional, social and economic factors have exacerbated this problem.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze mortality and years of healthy life lost in Mexico due to OW/OB in the 1990-2021 period.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors 2021 study was used to analyze data on elevated body mass index (BMI) as a risk factor and its evolution in Mexico.

RESULTS

In 2021, 118 thousand deaths attributable to high BMI were recorded, which accounted for 10.6% of total deaths and more than 4.2 million disability-adjusted life years lost.

CONCLUSIONS

The obesogenic environment, influenced by social determinants of health, has had a significant impact on mortality, burden of disease, and economic costs. Addressing OW/OB requires multisector interventions to strengthen the Mexican health system.

[Approximation to the cost of occupational diseases treated in seven hospitals in Spain]

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the hospital cost of a sample of cases treated in seven hospitals of the National Health System in several Spanish cities.

METHOD

Study based on 78 cases of occupational disease recognized by the social security, and previously treated in hospitals in Badalona, Barcelona, Ferrol, Gijón, Girona, Madrid and Vigo between 2017 and 2019.

RESULTS

The healthcare activity generated by these hospitals to attend these processes involved a total cost of 282,927€.

CONCLUSIONS

It is urgent to improve the coordination between the two public health systems, the social security health care system and the National Health System.

[Evaluation of health center's primary care responsiveness by patients with chronic illnesses]

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the health systems' response capacity according to the perception of chronic patients, and the factors related to that perception.

METHOD

Source of data: patients diagnosed with at least one chronic disease who visited primary care centers during June and July 2015 in a basic health area of La Rioja.

DESIGN

cross-sectional descriptive study based on interviews to over 18s who visited primary care centers. The dependent variable was the health systems' response capacity and independent variables were sociodemographic and health related. In order to collect data, trained interviewers conducted a short questionnaire in Spanish from the World Health Organization Multi-country Survey Study with 403 subjects. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed.

RESULTS

The overall health systems' response capacity was considered good by 87.10%. The domains that scored highest were: confidentiality (99.3%), dignity (98.3%) and communication (97.3%). Those evaluated worst were: rapid service (38,6%) and quality of basic services (31.8%). Low social class was the most important factor associated with the responsiveness, mainly with autonomy and rapid service. Sex, educational level, and occupation were related to communication domain, and patients with worse perceived health rated the general response worse. The domains considered most important were dignity (33.5%) and rapid service (30.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

The domains best evaluated were those related to respect for people. Rapid service has a low health systems' response capacity, but a high importance, and therefore requires priority action.

[Welfare State and public health: the role of occupational health]

In the context of the current crisis of the Welfare State, occupational health can contribute significantly to its sustainability by facilitating decent and healthy employment throughout the working life. To this end, occupational health must take on the challenge of promoting health, preventing and managing injuries, illnesses and disability, based on better coordination of prevention services, mutual insurance companies, and health services, as well as by empowering the leadership in prevention of companies and the active participation of those who work.