Medical resource use and costs among rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy

✍ Scribed by Griffiths, Robert I. ;Bar-Din, Miriam ;MacLean, Catherine H. ;Sullivan, Erin M. ;Herbert, Robert J. ;Yelin, Edward H.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 201 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/1529-0131(200008)13:4<213::aid-anr6>3.0.co;2-2

✦ Synopsis

Objective:

To identify costs among rheumatoid arthritis (ra) patients receiving alternative disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (dmard) therapies.

Methods:

Using managed care organization data, we identified members who (a) were prescribed any dmard therapy for two consecutive months between july 1993 and february 1998, (b) were aged > or = 18 years, (c) had > or = 6 months of dmard-free enrollment prior to the first dmard, and (d) had a diagnosis of ra.

Results:

The average age of the cohort (n = 571) was 51 years, and 70% were women. mean duration of enrollment following initiation of dmard therapy (observation period) was 19.5 months; 28.8% of patients switched dmard regimens. the average monthly cost of care was $853, of which $294 (34%) was for ra-coded medical services. monthly ra-coded costs varied by dmard: hydroxychloroquine $227 (n = 252), methotrexate $340 (n = 185); sulfasalazine $233 (n = 49), and other mono/combination therapy $425 (n = 85) (p = 0.001).

Conclusion:

Costs of ra-coded care in patients receiving dmards are low and vary by dmard.