Table 4.
Outpatient prescription drug use, healthcare resource utilization and costs for rheumatoid arthritis patients measured in the 12-month follow-up period
| All RA patients [N = 3993] | Access restrictions | p value (any vs. none) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any [N = 1364] | None [N = 2629] | |||
| Medications | ||||
| bDMARD | 3988 (99.9) | 1361 (99.8) | 2627 (99.9) | 0.223 |
| tsDMARD | 105 (2.6) | 29 (2.1) | 73 (2.9) | 0.152 |
| csDMARD | 2700 (67.6) | 944 (69.2) | 1756 (66.8) | 0.122 |
| Glucocorticoid | 2596 (65.0) | 901 (66.1) | 1695 (64.5) | 0.320 |
| Mean [SD] number of glucocorticoid claims | 4.2 [3.9] | 4.6 [4.2] | 4.0 [3.7] | < 0.001** |
| Antidepressant | 1362 (34.1) | 479 (35.1) | 883 (33.6) | 0.333 |
| Mean [SD] number of antidepressant claims | 5.9 [4.9] | 6.9 [5.7] | 5.3 [4.2] | < 0.001 |
| Antidiabetic | 440 (11.0) | 176 (12.9) | 264 (10.0) | 0.006* |
| Antihyperlipidemic | 881 (22.1) | 300 (22.0) | 581 (22.1) | 0.939 |
| Antihypertensive | 1612 (40.4) | 587 (43.0) | 1025 (39.0) | 0.013* |
| Pain medication | 2539 (63.4) | 885 (64.9) | 1646 (62.6) | 0.157 |
| Opioid | 1817 (45.5) | 627 (46.0) | 1190 (45.3) | 0.672 |
| Mean [SD] number of opioid claims | 6.0 [6.6] | 6.1 [6.6] | 5.9 [6.6] | 0.624 |
| NSAID | 1655 (41.1) | 579 (42.4) | 1076 (40.9) | 0.355 |
| Mean [SD] number of NSAID claims | 3.8 [3.2] | 4.2 [3.6] | 3.5 [2.9] | < 0.001** |
| Other pain medication | 736 (18.4) | 259 (19.0) | 477 (18.1) | 0.514 |
| Mean [SD] number of other pain medication claims | 3.6 [3.5] | 3.7 [3.5] | 3.5 [3.5] | 0.327 |
| Healthcare utilization | ||||
| IP admission | 291 (7.3) | 107 (7.8) | 184 (7.0) | 0.330 |
| IP admission due to infection | 54 (1.4) | 32 (2.3) | 22 (0.8) | < 0.001** |
| Emergency room visits | 346 (8.7) | 167 (12.2) | 179 (6.8) | < 0.001** |
| RA-related office visits | 2534 (63.5) | 842 (61.7) | 1692 (64.4) | 0.102 |
| Healthcare costs PPPY | ||||
| Medical costs (mean [SD]) | $4772 [$17,280] | $4488 [$16,834] | $4919 [$17,508] | 0.454 |
| Medical costs (median) | $905 | $802 | $976 | |
| OP prescription costs (mean [SD]) | $26,658 [$16,435] | $27,390 [$15,829] | $29,315 [$16,706] | < 0.001** |
| OP prescription costs (median) | $28,596 | $27,121 | $29,380 | |
| Cost per OP prescription (mean [SD]) | $1191 [$1194] | $992 [$959] | $1294 [$1287] | < 0.001** |
| Cost per OP prescription (median) | $872 | $728 | $955 | |
| Total healthcare costs (mean [SD]) | $33,429 [$24,025] | $31,878 [$23,420] | $34,235 [$24,298] | 0.003* |
| Total healthcare costs (median) | $32,063 | $30,424 | $32,638 | |
DMARD disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, bDMARD biologic DMARD, tsDMARD targeted synthetic DMARD, csDMARD conventional synthetic DMARD, SD standard deviation, NSAID nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, PPPY per patient per year, RA rheumatoid arthritis, IP inpatient, OP outpatient, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.001