The economic burden of depression among adults with rheumatoid arthritis in the United States.
J Med Econ
; 22(4): 372-378, 2019 Apr.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30663460
ABSTRACT
AIMS:
Depression is the most frequent comorbidity reported among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Comorbid depression negatively impacts RA patients' health-related quality-of-life, physical function, mental function, mortality, and experience of pain and symptom severity. The objective of this study was to assess healthcare utilization, expenditures, and work productivity among patients with RA with or without depression. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
Data from adult patients who had at least two visits each related to RA and depression over a 1-year period were extracted from the Truven Health MarketScan research databases. Outcomes comprised healthcare resource utilization, work productivity loss, and direct healthcare costs comparing patients with RA with depression (n = 3,478) vs patients with RA without depression (n = 43,222).RESULTS:
Patients with RA and depression had a significantly greater relative risk of hospitalization and number of all-cause and RA-related hospitalizations, utilization of emergency services, days spent in the hospital, physician visits, and RA-related surgeries compared with RA patients without depression. Patients with RA and depression had a higher risk of and experienced more events and days of short-term disability compared with patients without depression. The incremental adjusted annual all-cause and RA-related direct costs were $8,488 (95% CI = $6,793-$10,223) and $578 (95% CI = -$98-$1,243), respectively, when comparing patients with RA and depression vs RA only.LIMITATIONS:
The current analysis is subject to the known limitations of retrospective studies based on administrative claims data.CONCLUSIONS:
This study suggested increased healthcare utilization, work productivity loss, and economic burden among RA patients due to comorbid depression. These findings emphasize the importance of managing depression and including depression as a factor when devising treatment algorithms for patients with RA.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
/
Depression
Type of study:
Etiology_studies
/
Health_economic_evaluation
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Aspects:
Equity_inequality
/
Patient_preference
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
J Med Econ
Journal subject:
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Year:
2019
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States
Publication country:
ENGLAND
/
ESCOCIA
/
GB
/
GREAT BRITAIN
/
INGLATERRA
/
REINO UNIDO
/
SCOTLAND
/
UK
/
UNITED KINGDOM