Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Essential thrombocythemia (ET) is associated with risks of thromboembolism (TE), hemorrhagic events (HE), and progression to myelofibrosis (MF) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Despite the clinical significance of these complications, real-world healthcare cost data stratified by disease health state remains limited in Korea. This study aimed to estimate medical costs across ET disease health states using a nationwide claims database.
METHODS: This retrospective observational study identified patients with ET-related events or disease progression from the 2024 Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service National Patient Sample (HIRA-NPS). Five health states were defined: ET without events, ET with TE, ET with HE, ET progressing to MF, and ET progressing to AML, with MF and AML identified by relevant diagnosis codes. The index date was defined as the first recorded diagnosis corresponding to each health state during the index period (January 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024). Medical costs were summed up over the 180-day period following the index date and annualized.
RESULTS: A total of 452 patients were included: ET without events (n=173), TE (n=38), HE (n=2), MF (n=61), and AML (n=178). Annualized mean per-patient medical costs were $1,732 for ET without events, $1,063 for TE, $619 for HE, $23,960 for MF, and $56,249 for AML. Corresponding mean annualized non-drug medical costs were $1,056, $266, $577, $9,953, and $38,200, respectively (1 USD = 1366.58 KRW).
CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare costs increased substantially with disease progression in ET, with annualized mean medical costs for MF and AML approximately 14-fold and 32-fold higher, respectively, than for ET without events. These findings provide real-world cost inputs for cost-effectiveness analysis of treatments targeting the prevention of disease progression in ET.