OBJECTIVES

FSGS is a histopathologic syndrome with substantial unmet need and significant societal burden of illness. Given the limited data on clinical and economic characteristics of FSGS patients relative to individuals without FSGS, this retrospective observational study considers healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and costs in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) compared to a matched non-FSGS cohort.

METHODS

Claims data from Optum’s de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database from October 2015 through June 2019 were used to identify a FSGS cohort and a cohort of patients without FSGS. Patients were matched 2:1 by age, sex and race. All FSGS patients had >= 6 months of continuous enrollment prior to and after their first FSGS medical claim (index date). Controls had the same data requirements around the index date as their matched FSGS patient. Individuals with any cancer diagnosis were excluded.

RESULTS

Study included 768 FSGS patients and 1,536 matched non-FSGS controls. The FSGS cohort was comprised of more Medicare patients compared to the non-FSGS comparator (39.1% vs 33.1%, p=0.0045). FSGS patients had higher mean Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) (2.6 vs 0.5, p<.0001) and greater proportion with CCI >=3 (43.6% vs 6.0%, p<.0001). More FSGS patients had all-cause hospital admissions (21.2% vs 3.1%, p<.0001), surgeries (51.4% vs 17.1, p<.0001) and ER visits (24.6% vs 9.8%, p<.0001) in the six months after FSGS identification. FSGS patients also had higher mean outpatient visits (34.1 vs 11.2, p<.0001) and prescriptions (21.3 vs 7.7, p<.0001) than the non-FSGS patients. Median total costs for inpatient, outpatient and prescriptions during the 6 months post-index were $7,936 and $565 (p<0.0001) for FSGS patients and non-FSGS controls, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

This retrospective analysis of FSGS demonstrated increased healthcare resource utilization and costs among FSGS patients compared with those without FSGS. This remarkable societal burden warrants further study of this rare disease.