OBJECTIVES: Interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) including those associated with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are a heterogeneous group of disorders. ILD can also develop a progressive fibrosing (PF) phenotype similar to that observed in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The objectives of this study were to describe patients’ characteristics, healthcare resource consumptions and costs of PF-ILD and SSc-ILD in a real-world setting in France.

METHODS: The French administrative healthcare database (Système national des données de santé, SNDS) was used to describe PF-ILD and SSc-ILD patients’ characteristics and healthcare costs between January 2010 and December 2017. PF-ILD and SSc-ILD patients were identified through a combination of different algorithms within the SNDS using ICD codes. Patients’ characteristics, healthcare resource use and associated costs were extracted from the database and analysed. A multivariate analysis using a Cox proportional hazard model is currently ongoing to estimate predictive factors associated with increased costs and will be described.

RESULTS: 14,413 PF-ILD patients and 3,333 SSc-ILD patients were identified. 48.1% of PF-ILD patients and 75.6% of SSc-ILD patients were female. Mean age (± standard deviation) was 68.4 ± 15.0 years and 60.6 ±14.4 years for PF-ILD and SSc-ILD patients, respectively. Mean annual healthcare costs per patient were €81,286 for PF-ILD and €25,753 for SSc-ILD, mostly attributable to hospitalizations (respectively, 67% and 84% of mean total annual healthcare costs). Palliative care represented 27% of the mean total annual healthcare costs per PF-ILD patient. Mean annual drug costs per patient were €456 and €883 for PF-ILD and SSc-ILD, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The results underline the high economic burden from caring of PF-ILD and SSc-ILD in a real-life setting in France. Specifically, mean annual healthcare costs per SSc-ILD and PF-ILD patient were mainly driven by frequent hospitalizations, with significant palliative care cost for PF-ILD patients.