Measuring The Lifetime Costs Of Serious Mental Illness And The Mitigating Effects Of Educational Attainment.

Serious mental illness (SMI) is a disabling condition that develops early in life and imposes substantial economic burden. There is a growing belief that early intervention for SMI has lifelong benefits for patients. However, assessing the cost-effectiveness of early intervention efforts is hampered by a lack of evidence on the long-term benefits. We addressed this by using a dynamic microsimulation model to estimate the lifetime burden of SMI for those diagnosed by age twenty-five. We estimated that the per patient lifetime burden of SMI is $1.85 million. We also found that a policy intervention focused on improving the educational attainment of people with SMI reduces the average per person burden of SMI by $73,600 (4.0 percent)-a change driven primarily by higher lifetime earnings-or over $8.9 billion in reduced burden per cohort of SMI patients. These findings provide a benchmark for the potential value of improving educational attainment for people with SMI.

Cost-effectiveness of percutaneous coronary intervention with cobalt-chromium everolimus eluting stents versus bare metal stents: Results from a patient level meta-analysis of randomized trials.

BACKGROUND: Second-generation drug eluting stents (DES) may reduce costs and improve clinical outcomes compared to first-generation DES with improved cost-effectiveness when compared to bare metal stents (BMS). We aimed to conduct an economic evaluation of a cobalt-chromium everolimus eluting stent (Co-Cr EES) compared with BMS in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). OBJECTIVE: To conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of a cobalt-chromium everolimus eluting stent (Co-Cr EES) versus BMS in PCI. METHODS: A Markov state transition model with a 2-year time horizon was applied from a US Medicare setting with patients undergoing PCI with Co-Cr EES or BMS. Baseline characteristics, treatment effects, and safety measures were taken from a patient level meta-analysis of 5 RCTs (n = 4,896). The base-case analysis evaluated stent-related outcomes; a secondary analysis considered the broader set of outcomes reported in the meta-analysis. RESULTS: The base-case and secondary analyses reported an additional 0.018 and 0.013 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and cost savings of $236 and $288, respectively with Co-Cr EES versus BMS. Results were robust to sensitivity analyses and were most sensitive to the price of clopidogrel. In the probabilistic sensitivity analysis, Co-Cr EES was associated with a greater than 99% chance of being cost saving or cost effective (at a cost per QALY threshold of $50,000) versus BMS. CONCLUSIONS: Using data from a recent patient level meta-analysis and contemporary cost data, this analysis found that PCI with Co-Cr EES is more effective and less costly than PCI with BMS. © 2016 The Authors. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Angina and associated healthcare costs following percutaneous coronary intervention: A real-world analysis from a multi-payer database.

OBJECTIVES: To study the contemporary, real-world clinical and economic burden associated with angina after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). BACKGROUND: Angina adversely affects quality of life and medical costs, yet data on real-world prevalence of angina following PCI and its associated economic consequences are limited. METHODS: In a multi-payer administrative claims database, we identified adults with incident inpatient PCI admissions between 2008 and 2011 who had at least 12 months of continuous medical and pharmacy benefits before and after the procedure. Patients were followed for up to 36 months. Using claims, we ascertained post-PCI outcomes: angina or chest pain, acute myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, repeat PCI, healthcare service utilization, and costs. RESULTS: Among 51,710 study patients (mean age 61.8, 72% male), post-PCI angina or chest pain was present in 28% by 12 months and 40% by 36 months. Compared with patients who did not experience chest pain, angina or ACS, total healthcare costs in the first year after the index PCI were 1.8 times greater for patients with angina or chest pain ($32,437 vs. $17,913, P < 0.001). These cost differentials continued to 36 months. CONCLUSIONS: Angina after PCI is a frequent and expensive outcome. Further research is needed to identify risk factors and potentially improve outcomes for post-PCI angina. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The incidence and relevance of site-reported vs. patient-reported angina: insights from the ABSORB II randomized trial comparing Absorb everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold with XIENCE everolimus-eluting metallic stent.

AIMS: In the ABSORB II trial, comparing Absorb™ bioresorbable vascular scaffold with metallic XIENCE™ everolimus-eluting stent (EES), a difference was found in site-reported new or worsening angina using adverse event (AE) reporting. However, the clinical relevance of this site-reported angina is unclear. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the clinical relevance of site-reported angina by evaluating its relation with cardiac endpoints, cardiovascular resource utilization (including diagnostics and treatment), positive exercise stress tolerance tests (ETTs), and Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ). METHODS AND RESULTS: Site-reported new or worsening angina was captured on cardiac AE forms. There was a wide variation in the total number of days with site-reported angina (overall interquartile range 35-279 days). Patients with site-reported angina showed higher rates of cardiovascular events [including the patient-oriented composite endpoint of all deaths, all myocardial infarctions (MI), or all revascularizations (21.1 vs. 4.2%, P < 0.0001), all MIs (2.3 vs. 0%, P = 0.03), and all revascularizations (21.1 vs. 0.7%, P < 0.0001)], cardiovascular resource utilization (including stress tests, anti-anginal medication, diagnostic angiographies, and hospitalization), and positive ETTs (51.9 vs. 14.9%, P < 0.001), compared with those without site-reported angina. Furthermore, an event-based analysis of the SAQ showed that patients with ongoing angina within the recall period of 4 weeks prior to the SAQ assessment have clinically and statistically significant decrements of >14 points in SAQ scores compared with those with no reported angina. CONCLUSIONS: We showed that the site-reported angina through AE reporting may be clinically relevant because of their relation with cardiovascular events (mostly repeat revascularizations), cardiovascular resource utilization, ETT, and SAQ. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01425281; Unique identifier: NCT01425281.