176836 Relative cost difference among head and neck cancer patients with and without associated oral mucositis

Sunday, October 26, 2008

R. Amy Puenpatom, PhD , Pharmacoeconomics, Epidemiology, Measurement and Statistics, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Chadds Ford, PA
Timothy Victor, PhD, PhD , Pharmacoeconomics, Epidemiology, Measurement and Statistics, Endo Pharmaceuticals, Chadds Ford, PA
We utilized healthcare claims data from the i3/Innovus Lab-Rx database from June 2003 through May 2007. Patients having head and neck cancer (H&N) as a primary diagnosis where included in the study. OM patients were required to have at least one OM diagnosis after the first observed cancer claim date. An OM diagnosis was considered to be associated with a radio- or chemotherapy treatment if the diagnosis was within 180 days of the therapy. To evaluate the Per Member Per Year (PMPY) costs, patients with at least 30 days of eligibility after the index date were included. Given the highly skewed nature of the cost distributions, nonparametric bootstrap t-tests were used.

Findings:

Of the 9,877 H&N cancer patients, one-third received radio- or chemotherapy treatment. Among those, approximately 18-25% developed OM or OM-associated conditions. The bootstrap t-tests indicated that there were statistical differences between the costs of the patients who developed OM and those who did not in all types of direct costs. The median PMPY total cost for the OM patients was $185,274 (mean = $276,241) compared to $130,436 (mean = 251,755) for the non-OM patients. Among H&N patients, sixty-six percent of the total cost was associated with outpatient visits, 23% for inpatient visits, and 4% for drug costs.

Conclusions:

The typical H&N patient with OM had higher total costs relative to those patients who did not. Effective OM prevention methods and treatments are needed as a vehicle for cost-containment to lessen the economic burden on both patients and payors.

Learning Objectives:
We evaluated the relative cost difference among head and neck (H&N) cancer patients with and without associated oral mucositis (OM) from the perspective of the payor.

Keywords: Economic Analysis, Oral Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Led all phases of the study including design, analysis, interpretation and writeup.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
Endo Pharmaceuticals Pain Employment (includes retainer)

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Oral Health Poster Session I
See more of: Oral Health