TABLE 3.
Child and family characteristics and medication and hospitalutilization by quartile of OOP cost for asthma medications, children ages 5–18
| Full sample | Quartile 1 | Quartile 2 | Quartile 3 | Quartile 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 5913 | 1436 | 1502 | 1478 | 1497 |
| Child and family characteristics | |||||
| Mean age, y (sd) | 9.7 (3.6) | 9.6 (3.6) | 9.7 (3.5) | 9.6 (3.5) | 9.7 (3.6) |
| Male, No. (%) | 3465 (58.6) | 881 (61.4) | 851 (56.7) | 849 (57.4) | 884 (59.1) |
| Allergic rhinitis, No (%) | 798 (13.5) | 203 (14.1) | 209 (13.9) | 169 (11.4) | 217 (14.5) |
| Chronic conditions in addition to asthma/allergic rhinitis, Median (range) | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–2) |
| Mean no. adults per child, (SD) | 1.9 (0.5) | 1.9 (0.5) | 2.0 (0.5) | 1.9 (0.5) | 1.9 (0.5) |
| Mean age of adult, y (SD) | 40.1 (6.0) | 40.1 (6.2) | 40.6 (6.0) | 40.1 (5.8) | 39.8 (5.8) |
| At least 1 adult with asthma, No. (%) | 958 (16.2) | 218 (15.2) | 261 (17.4) | 237 (16.0) | 242 (16.2) |
| Mean no. additional children insured (SD | 1.2 (1.0) | 1.1 (1.0) | 1.2 (1.0) | 1.2 (1.0) | 1.2 (1.0) |
| Mean non-medication coinsurance rate (SD) | 25.6 (11.6) | 21.0 (8.5) | 25.1 (12.4) | 29.0 (12.1) | 27.3 (11.2) |
| Medication utilization | |||||
| Annual OOP cost for basket of asthma medications, $ Mean (SD) | 154 (71) | 89 (17) | 123 (24) | 161 (32) | 242 (73) |
| Days covered by an asthma prescription during 365-day follow-up, % (SD) | 40.9 (25.1) | 42.2 (25.8) | 40.7 (24.4) | 39.4 (24.1) | 41.3 (25.8) |
| Health care utilization after initiating control therapy | |||||
| Asthma-related hospitalization during 365-day follow-up, No. children (%) | 121 (2.1) | 20 (1.4) | 28 (1.9) | 33 (2.2) | 40 (2.7) |
| Asthma-related emergency department visit during 365-day follow-up, No. children (%) | 220 (3.7) | 62 (4.3) | 52 (3.5) | 48 (3.3) | 58 (3.9) |
| Health care utilization prior to initiating control therapy | |||||
| Asthma-related hospitalization in 180 days prior to initiating control therapy, No. children (%) | 129 (2.2) | 28 (2.0) | 31 (2.1) | 39 (2.7) | 31 (2.1) |
| Asthma-related emergency department visit in 180 days prior to initiating control therapy, No. children (%) | 195 (3.3) | 37 (2.6) | 47 (3.1) | 61 (4.1) | 50 (3.3) |
Notes: Table reports unadjusted analyses. Annual OOP cost and expenditures on hospitalization are in 2010 dollars. Mean non-medication coinsurance rate is the mean OOP cost of all medical services (e.g. hospitalizations, ED visits, durable equipment, etc.) divided by the total payment (OOP + health plan) for those services. The 25th, 50th, and 75th percentiles of Annual OOP cost for asthma medications were $100, $140, and $190 respectively.