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- Demand for emergency services during the COVID-19 pandemic and disease burden: a case study in PortugalPublication . Nunes, Alcina ; Costa, Catarina ; Martins, João P.; Ferreira, Pedro L.; Pimenta, RuiThe COVID-19 pandemic brought changes in the pattern of care use. A significant increase in the volume of emergencies was expected. However, a significant decrease was observed worldwide. An observational, analytical and cross-sectional study of all records of emergency episodes of patients aged 18 years or older admitted to the emergency services of the University of Porto Hospital Centre (2018–2022) were analysed. : During the pandemic, a significant reduction in emergency episode admissions (up to 40% during lockdowns), an increase in pre-emergency services, and discharges from Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine was observed. The discharges from General Practice and General Practice and Family Medicine were residual. The lower use and type of use of emergency services during the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the disease burden. This could be prevented in future pandemics through the development of strategies to promote confidence in the use of health resources and establishing contingency plans for virtual assistance.
- Health care expenses impact on the disability-adjusted life years in non-communicable diseases in the European UnionPublication . Torres, Margarida ; Nunes, Alcina ; Martins, João P.; Ferreira, Pedro L. ; Pimenta, RuiNon-communicable diseases are a global health problem. The metric Disability-Adjusted Life Years was developed to measure its impact on health systems. This metric makes it possible to understand a disease’s burden, towards defining healthcare policies. This research analysed the effect of healthcare expenditures in the evolution of disability-adjusted life years for noncommunicable diseases in the European Union between 2000 and 2019. Data were collected for all 27 European Union countries from Global Burden of Disease 2019, Global Health Expenditure, and EUROSTAT databases. Econometric panel data models were used to assess the impact of healthcare expenses on the disability-adjusted life years. Only models with a coefficient of determination equal to or higher than 10% were analysed. There was a decrease in the non-communicable diseases with the highest disability-adjusted life years: cardiovascular diseases (−2,952 years/105 inhabitants) and neoplasms (−618 years/105 inhabitants). Health expenditure significantly decreased disability-adjusted life years for all analysed diseases (p 0.05) whereas public health expenditure did not significantly influence skin and subcutaneous diseases (p > 0.05). Health expenditure have proved to be effective in the reduction of several diseases. However, some categories such as musculoskeletal and mental disorders must be a priority for health policies in the future since, despite their low mortality, they can present high morbidity and disability.