Abstract
BACKGROUND: The burden of disease generated by acute bronchiolitis (AB)
in infants is unknown in developing countries. Evidence on the disease
burden is important for decision-making processes within the health
sector. The objective of the present study is to determine the
Disability-Adjusted Life Years in a middle-income country METHODS: DALYs
were calculated, using the methodology of Global Burden of Disease
Study, for the following health outcomes of AB: AB uncomplicated, AB
with complications, AB with severe complications, with long term
complications. To estimate the DALY of each outcome, we performed a
systematic review of evidence and complemented with information from the
national epidemiological surveillance system. Sensibility analysis was
made using a bootstrapped method with 10000 iterations in package DALY
calculator of R program. RESULTS: In 2019, we estimated that 482 993
years of life (IC 95% 366 565- 690 294) were lost due to AB in infants.
The rate of DALYs estimated for AB with mild complications were 19 DALYs
/ 1000 person-year, 6 DALYs / 1000 person-year for AB with severe
complications, 6 DALYs / 1000 person-year for AB uncomplicated
CONCLUSION: The burden of AB is a serious problem in Colombia, with a
considerable social impact in terms of disability and mortality. It is
necessary novel pharmacological strategies to minimize the impact of
this serious problem in Colombia.