COLORECTAL CANCER COSTS IN BRAZIL: A RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS

Introduction: Colon and rectal (or colorectal) cancer is the third most prevalent tumor among men and the second among women. This is treatable and curable when detected early, with not metastases. However, the screening is still neglected in Brazil, decreasing the chances of cure. There is a high mortality rate, it is the third cause of death by cancer in the country. Because of this, it is a public health problem with increase of the incidence rate according to the increased life expectancy of the population, reflecting in high cost in face of the late diagnoses. Objective: The objective of the research is to analyze the costs for colorectal cancer in Brazil in the last four years. Methodology: This is an observational, retrospective, cross-sectional study. The collected data was through SUS Hospital Information System (SIH/SUS), in DATASUS (Department of Informatics of the Brazilian Health System) collected on September 24th of 2020 -4-years time analysis (from July 2016 to July 2020). The variables analyzed were: Race, Age Group, AIH (Hospital Admission Authorization), Average of stay, Total cost, Admissions, Year of occurrence and Federation Units. The data were tabulated using Microsoft Excel 2019. Results: This study analyzed 199,892 cases. The highest prevalences were found in Southeast with 45% and South with 32%. In Brazil there was a predominance in the age groups over 50th years old, highest from 60th to 69th (30%). The white color prevailed, presenting more than half of the cases (60%), followed by the brown people with 34%. The average stay in the country was 5.2 days, higher in the North region with 6.8 days. The total per capita cost was 2,239.70 reais. The Southeast region, first place in the number of cases and second in the average stay (5.9 days), presented a per capita cost of 2413.80 reais. The region with the highest per capita cost was the Northeast (2,477 reais), despite being the third place of the number of cases. There was an increase of this pathology over the years, following the life expectancy; 2020 follows the same trend – a projection of increased prevalence when compared to the same period in 2019. Conclusion: The amount spent in the care of each patient with Colorectal Cancer does not the region with the highest number of cases nor the average number of days in hospital. The timing of the diagnosis, the infrastructure and the application of screening are important to the evaluation of the real reasons of costs.