Abstract
Objective: This study examined Crohn’s Disease (CD)-related health care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs among bio-naïve CD patients initiating biologics over a 2-year follow-up period.
Methods: This descriptive study used claims data pooled from Optum Clinformatics (09/2015 – 02/2020), IBM MarketScan (09/ 2015 – 09/2019), and IQVIA PharMetrics (09/2015 – 02/2020) databases. Adult patients with ≥1 CD medical claim and ≥1 medical/pharmacy claim for adalimumab [ADA], ustekinumab [UST], and vedolizumab [VDZ] were selected. Index date was the first biologic claim date. Patients had continuous eligibility for ≥12 months pre (baseline) and ≥24 months post index date (follow-up). Only bio-naïve patients were included as patients with no prior biologic usage in the baseline. Using a claims-based algorithm, confirmed CD patients were included in the final cohort. CD-related HCRU and costs were descriptively examined and reported.
Results: A total of 1,735 bio-naïve CD patients were identified (161 [9.3%] UST, 232 [13.4%] VDZ, and 1,342 [77.3%] ADA). Compared to baseline, proportion of patients with CD-related inpatient stays decreased for UST (27.3% vs 16.2%), VDZ (22.4% vs 11.6%), and ADA (13.0% vs 5.0%) in the second year post biologic initiation. Numerically, the mean annual CD-related inpatient costs decreased by $5,917 for UST, by $698 for VDZ, and by $4,878 for ADA in the second year of follow-up from baseline. Proportion of patients with CD-related ER visits decreased numerically for UST (21.7% baseline to 16.2% second year of follow-up), VDZ (19.4% vs 13.8%) and ADA (11.9% to 6.9%). Numerical decreases were also observed for CD-related ER costs.
Conclusions: Among bio-naïve CD patients who initiated biologics, numerically there was a decrease in the proportion of patients with CD-related ER visits, inpatient stays, and associated costs from baseline to the second year of follow-up.
