Table 3.
Clinical outcomes and healthcare resource utilization during the follow-up period
| Matched MS patientsa | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Approved patients | Denied patients | p valueb | |
| (n = 262) | (n = 262) | ||
| MS-specific characteristics and HCRU | |||
| MS exacerbation episode | |||
| ≥ 1 exacerbation episode | 74 (28.2%) | 96 (36.6%) | 0.04 |
| Patients with 1 exacerbation episode | 50 (19.1%) | 75 (28.6%) | < 0.01 |
| Patients with 2 exacerbation episodes | 10 (3.8%) | 8 (3.1%) | 0.64 |
| Patients with ≥ 3 exacerbation episodes | 14 (5.3%) | 13 (5.0%) | 0.85 |
| Neurologic impairment indicators | |||
| Pain | 78 (29.8%) | 79 (30.2%) | 0.93 |
| Fatigue | 78 (29.8%) | 83 (31.7%) | 0.62 |
| Depression | 134 (51.1%) | 129 (49.2%) | 0.66 |
| Psychosis | 101 (38.5%) | 91 (34.7%) | 0.37 |
| Cognitive impairment | 3 (1.1%) | 7 (2.7%) | 0.21 |
| MS-related treatments | |||
| Plasmapheresis | 0 (0.0%) | 2 (0.8%) | 1.00 |
| Intravenous immunoglobulin | 3 (1.1%) | 1 (0.4%) | 0.32 |
| Other disease-modifying therapy | 117 (44.7%) | 121 (46.2%) | 0.71 |
| Rehabilitation and physical therapy services | |||
| Patients with ≥ 1 rehab/physical therapy claim | 26 (9.9%) | 30 (11.5%) | 0.56 |
| Number of rehab/physical therapy claims | 14.2 ± 15.2 [5] | 23.8 ± 44.3 [7] | 0.88 |
| Mobility indicators | |||
| Overall | 39 (14.9%) | 39 (14.9%) | 1.00 |
| Cane/crutch | 0 (0.0%) | 3 (1.1%) | 1.00 |
| Dalfampridine (Ampyra) | 30 (11.5%) | 25 (9.5%) | 0.46 |
| Specialty bed | 4 (1.5%) | 3 (1.1%) | 0.71 |
| Walker | 7 (2.7%) | 6 (2.3%) | 0.78 |
| Wheelchair | 1 (0.4%) | 7 (2.7%) | 0.03 |
| EDSS-derived disability claims | 4.6 ± 6.9 [1] | 4.9 ± 6.7 [1] | 0.48 |
| Procedures | |||
| MRI | 91 (34.7%) | 92 (35.1%) | 0.92 |
| All-cause healthcare resource use | |||
| ≥ 1 visit | |||
| Inpatient | 40 (15.3%) | 61 (23.3%) | 0.02 |
| Outpatient/physician office | 228 (87.0%) | 234 (89.3%) | 0.42 |
| Surgery | 10 (3.8%) | 15 (5.7%) | 0.32 |
| Other visitsc | 115 (43.9%) | 132 (50.4%) | 0.16 |
| Visits | |||
| Inpatient admissions | 2.1 ± 1.9 [1] | 2.1 ± 1.6 [1] | 0.96 |
| Length of stay (days) | 10.1 ± 21.0 [4] | 5.0 ± 5.5 [4] | 0.38 |
| Surgery | 2.2 ± 1.5 [2] | 1.3 ± 0.6 [1] | 0.17 |
| Outpatient/physician office visits | 9.4 ± 9.3 [6] | 10.3 ± 10.2 [7] | 0.39 |
| Other visits | 8.8 ± 29.5 3] | 9.5 ± 32.7 [3] | 0.81 |
| Visits with MS relapse diagnosis | 0.7 ± 2.8 [0] | 0.7 ± 1.8 [0] | 0.31 |
| Prescription drug use | |||
| Corticosteroids | 111 (42.4%) | 134 (51.1%) | 0.04 |
| Average daily corticosteroid dose (mg) | 0.8 ± 2.4 [0] | 1.2 ± 3.2 [0] | 0.07 |
| Number of prescriptions filled | 48.4 ± 41.6 [39] | 47.9 ± 41.5 [37] | 0.78 |
| Number of unique drugs | 17.8 ± 12.6 [16] | 17.0 ± 12.5 [14] | 0.45 |
| Medical costs | |||
| Total medical costs | 23,378 ± 53,556 [4937] | 29,467 ± 59,276 [6479] | 0.14 |
| Inpatient | 693 ± 3937 [0] | 753 ± 2415 [0] | 0.06 |
| Outpatient/physician office | 20,836 ± 52,383 [2909] | 24,140 ± 54,525 [4108] | 0.42 |
| Other visitsc | 1849 ± 7752 [0] | 4574 ± 20,735 [45] | 0.05 |
HCRU healthcare resource utilization, EDSS Expanded Disability Status Scale
aDenied patients are propensity score-matched (± ¼ SD) 1:1 to approved patients. The matching criteria include all baseline characteristics reported in the baseline tables
bStatistical comparisons were conducted using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test for continuous variables and the McNemar test for dichotomous variables
cThe Symphony data list all visits that are not inpatient, outpatient, or surgery as “other”