Temporal pattern and costs of rehospitalization in atrial fibrillation/atrial flutter patients with one or more additional risk factors.
J Med Econ
; 15(3): 548-55, 2012.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-22352988
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
The ATHENA study showed that use of dronedarone reduced rates of first cardiovascular (CV) hospitalization in atrial fibrillation/flutter (AF/AFL) patients. AF is associated with high costs to payers, which are driven by high rates of hospitalization. This retrospective cohort study examined readmission patterns and costs to US payers in real-world AF/AFL patients with ≥1 additional risk factor (ARF).METHODS:
Patients hospitalized (January 2005-March 2008) with AF/AFL as primary diagnosis and having ≥1 year of health coverage, before and after their first (index) admission, were identified in the PharMetrics Patient-Centric database. As in the ATHENA study, patients had to be ≥75 years of age or ≥70 years, with ≥1 ARF. Rehospitalization patterns (all-cause, all CV-related [including AF/AFL] and AF/AFL-related alone) were examined over 1 year post-index, and costs of index vs later AF/AFL admissions compared.RESULTS:
The study included 3498 patients (mean 80 [SD 7.6] years; 42.4% men). Over 1 year, 1389 patients (39.7%) were rehospitalized for any cause (mean 1.7 [SD 1.3] events/patient), with 1223 patients (35.0%) undergoing CV-related (mean 1.6 [SD 1.0] events/patient) and 935 (26.7%) undergoing AF-related rehospitalization (mean 1.4 [SD 0.8] events/patient). Common causes of CV-related readmissions (primary diagnosis) were AF/AFL (47.5%), congestive heart failure (CHF) (9.9%), coronary artery disease (7.4%), and stroke/transient ischemic attack (6.2%). Readmission rates at 3 months were 16.2% (all-cause), 14.3% (all CV-related including AF/AFL), and 10.5% (AF/AFL-related alone). AF/AFL readmissions (primary diagnosis) were longer than initial hospitalizations (mean total 6.9 [SD 12.9] vs 4.3 [SD 5.1] days, p < 0.0001) and more costly (median $1819 [25th percentile $1066, 75th percentile $5623] vs $1707 [25th percentile $1102, 75th percentile $4749]).LIMITATIONS:
This study excluded patients with pre-existing CHF, did not require electrocardiogram confirmation of AF/AFL diagnosis, and did not distinguish between paroxysmal, persistent, and permanent AF.CONCLUSIONS:
AF/AFL patients with ≥1 ARF have high readmission rates. AF/AFL-related readmissions incur higher costs than the initial AF/AFL admissions.
Texto completo:
1
Temas:
ECOS
/
Financiamentos_gastos
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Readmissão do Paciente
/
Fibrilação Atrial
/
Flutter Atrial
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Health_economic_evaluation
/
Incidence_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Região como assunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Med Econ
Assunto da revista:
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Ano de publicação:
2012
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos