Table 3.
Estimated Medical Costs, Intervention Costs, and Patient Time Costs
| Cost Component | Usual Care (n = 1172) | Exercise Training (n = 1159) |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline costs, $ | ||
| Patient education | 25 (0) | 26 (0) |
| Cardiopulmonary exercise test | 105 (0) | 105 (0) |
| Six-minute walk test | 59 (0) | 59 (0) |
| Echocardiogram | 212 (0) | 212 (0) |
| Study visit | 91 (0) | 91 (0) |
| Protocol costs after baseline, mean (SD), $ | ||
| Study visits | 625 (244) | 647 (221) |
| Cardiopulmonary exercise tests at 3, 12, and 24 months | 229 (96) | 242 (83) |
| Six-minute walk tests at 3, 12, 24, and 36 months | 201 (69) | 208 (63) |
| Monitoring telephone calls* | 225 (59) | 227 (54) |
| Total nonintervention protocol costs, including baseline | 1769 (449) | 1817 (401) |
| Medical resources | ||
| Concomitant medications | 8869 (5730) | 8847 (5627) |
| Nonurgent outpatient visits | 2196 (2650) | 2349 (2382) |
| Outpatient cardiac and orthopedic procedures | 1761 (4769) | 1729 (4400) |
| Urgent/emergent care visits | 1622 (4046) | 1400 (2996) |
| Intravenous infusion | 422 (3007) | 508 (2830) |
| Skilled nursing facility | 565 (5673) | 501 (3928) |
| Rehabilitation | 514 (5302) | 299 (2290) |
| Hospitalizations | ||
| Inpatient hospital costs | 36,308 (83,935) | 31,511 (73,892) |
| Physician rounding fees | 1491 (2901) | 1367 (2570) |
| Physician procedure fees | 659 (1310) | 529 (1120) |
| Total, mean | 38,459 (87,432) | 33,407 (76,854) |
| Total, median (interquartile range) | 10,528 (0–41,706) | 7807 (0–37,137) |
| Total direct medical costs | ||
| Mean (SD) | 56,177 (92,749) | 50,857 (81,488) |
| Median (interquartile range) | 28,245 (13,067–60,942) | 25,904 (13,574–56,725) |
| Exercise intervention costs, $ | ||
| Direct medical costs | ||
| Supervised exercise training* | 0 | 632 (259) |
| Home exercise training† | 0 | 374 (120) |
| Total‡ | 0 | 1006 (337) |
| Patient time | ||
| Supervised exercise training | 0 | 1045 (418) |
| Home exercise training | 0 | 3974 (4395) |
| Total§ | 0 | 5018 (4600) |
| Direct nonmedical costs | ||
| Travel and parking | 0 | 457 (176) |
| Total exercise intervention costs | 0 | 6482 (4884) |
| Total costs, excluding patient time and direct nonmedical costs, $ | ||
| Mean (SD) | 56,177 (92,749) | 51,863 (81,469) |
| Median (interquartile range) | 28,245 (13,067–60,942) | 26,933 (14,470–57,875) |
| Total costs, including patient time and direct nonmedical costs, $ | ||
| Mean (SD) | 56,177 (92,749) | 57,338 (81,343) |
| Median (interquartile range) | 28,245 (13,067–60,942) | 34,228 (19,840–64,493) |
Values are expressed as mean (SD) unless otherwise indicated.
*
Based on the salary of an exercise physiologist ($27.83 per hour).
†
Includes cost for bike or treadmill, heart rate monitor, shipping and set-up.
‡
Does not include $227 for telephone calls to promote adherence.
§
Does not include patient time for telephone calls to promote adherence.