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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Sex Transm Dis. 2021 Feb 1;48(2):e18–e21. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001240

TABLE 1.

Costs of Chlamydia (CT)

Male Female Total
Patients diagnosed with CT diagnosis code
No. patients with a CT diagnosis 16,329 44,481 60,810
Patients diagnosed with ONLY CT diagnosis code and no other code 7,144 43.8% 20,114 45.2% 27,258 44.8%
No. outpatient visits with a CT diagnosis 8030 22,986 31,016
Avg. no. CT visits per patient 1.12 1.14 1.14
No. patients with prescription drug coverage 6569 40.2% 18,547 41.7% 25,116 41.3%
No. patients with coverage having drug claims 4755 29.1% 14,086 31.7% 18,841 31.0%
No. patients with appropriate CT treatment linked to CT diagnosis 3546 21.7% 10,874 24.4% 14,420 23.7%
No. patients with treatment within 1 mo of DX 2706 16.6% 6912 15.5% 9618 15.8%
No. first cases of chlamydia without other diagnoses 2611 16.0% 6569 14.8% 9180 15.1%
Direct medical treatment costs*
No. cases 2611 6569 9180
Outpatient cost (95% CI) $147.85 ($140.92–$154.78) $140.04 ($136.92–$154.78) $142.26 ($138.89–$145.64)
Drug cost (95% CI) $9.08 ($8.07– $10.09) $9.01 ($8.50– $9.51) $9.03 ($8.07–$9.49)
Total cost (95% CI) $156.93 ($149.88–$163.98) $149.05 ($145.14–$152.95) $151.29 ($147.85–$154.73)
Productivity loss per CT case
No. claims in HPM database linked to patients with a CT diagnosis including non STI-visits 3650 22.4% 2940 6.6% 6590 10.8%
No. claims specific to CT visit 18 0.1% 13 0.03% 31 0.05%
Mean hours absent per CT case (95% CI) 9.33 (7.32–11.36) 5.11 (3.87–6.35) 7.56 (6.11–9.01)
Mean productivity loss per CT case (95% CI) $254.80 ($199.70–$309.90) $139.44 ($105.56–$173.32) $206.42 ($166.98–$245.87)

The average productivity cost per chlamydia and gonorrhea case (n = 38) was 7.82 (95% CI, 6.28–9.36) hours absent and $213.53 (95% CI, 171.51–255.55) in lost wages.

*

All costs are adjusted to 2018 US dollars using the Consumer Price Index for All urban consumers.

The productivity loss per case was calculated assuming an average US hourly compensation rate of $27.30/h in 2018 US dollars, the 95% CI for the productivity loss reflects the 95% CI for the mean number of hours absent multiplied by $27.30. Applying a different hourly compensation rate would affect the estimated productivity loss per case in a proportional manner; for example, if the hourly rate were increased by 10%, the productivity cost estimates would be increased by 10% as well.

These are the average costs per case among those who were linked to the HPM Database and missed work for their outpatient visit. The average productivity loss per case across all cases (including those who did not miss work for treatment) is expected to be lower.

CI indicates confidence interval; DX, diagnosis.