OBJECTIVES: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a lung disease characterized by a persistent reduction of airflow. The objective of this study was to quantify the COPD-attributable direct medical costs in the United States in 2011-2015 and estimate the association of sociodemographic factors with the incremental costs of COPD.

METHODS: The data sources used for this study was the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2011-2015). Adults (≥18 years) with a COPD diagnosis who reported to currently have COPD in the year were included. We employed two-part regression models to estimate the COPD-attributable annual per person incremental medical costs for each year, adjusting for sociodemographic variables, insurance type and comorbidities. The medical costs examined were office-based visit costs, hospital-based outpatient visit costs, emergency room (ER) visit costs, inpatient admission costs and prescription drug costs, related to COPD. The costs were converted to 2015 US dollar amounts.

RESULTS: Across the study period (2011-2015), 5.8-6.2% were estimated to currently have COPD among US adults annually. The annual per-person COPD-attributable direct medical costs were $10,160 (95% CI $8,526-11,793) per person in 2015, $8,145 ($7,135-9,154) in 2014, $7,772 ($6,965-8,579) in 2013, $6,993 ($6,965-8,579) in 2012 and $6,573 ($5,761-7,386) in 2011. Among the service categories, the prescription medicines accounted for the largest proportion of the COPD-related medical costs, steadily increasing from $2,723 ($2,354-3,099) in 2011 to $4,310 ($3,469-5,152) in 2015. For males, people with no comorbidities and people with public health insurance plan, the COPD-related costs were significantly lower than the population average throughout the study period.

CONCLUSIONS: COPD is a source of significant economic burden, with increasing trend of the direct medical costs related to COPD over the years. The prescription drug costs consistently accounted for the greatest percentage of the overall costs.