Background Aripiprazole tablets with sensor (AS) is an atypical antipsychotic therapy indicated to track medication ingestion behavior. There is a lack of real-world evidence describing the costs associated with healthcare utilization among those prescribed AS.

Objective To describe changes in healthcare costs among individuals initiating AS (cases) compared to controls who initiated on oral antipsychotic therapy.

Methods This was a retrospective analysis of insurance claims from Decision Resources Group. The case finding period was 1/1/2019-6/30/2020 with 3-month baseline and 6-month follow up. Healthcare utilization costs were compared between cases and propensity-score matched controls (matched 4:1) who initiated oral antipsychotic therapy. Matching criteria included demographics, insurance, disease diagnosis, and baseline healthcare utilization. Differences (case minus control) in all-cause and psychiatric-specific 6-month aggregate costs during follow up are reported, overall and by acute (ED and inpatient), outpatient, and pharmacy care during follow up. Unless noted otherwise, results presented are significant at p<0.05.

Results Cases (n=49) were 61.2% female, with an average age of 37.7 years (SD:14.1 years). Among cases, 87.8% filled 3+ AS claims, and 42 (85.7%) transitioned to aripiprazole, 4 (8.2%) transitioned to another antipsychotic, and 3 discontinued antipsychotic therapy within the follow-up period. All-cause ($1,483.68) and psychiatric-specific ($951.72) acute care costs were lower among cases. Total psychiatric outpatient medical care costs were $1,475.70 higher among cases. Psychiatric pharmacy costs were $2,500.08 higher. All-cause medical care costs were lower ($3,194.10), a difference which did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusion These results suggest that individuals who use AS experienced a decrease in the psychiatric acute care costs and increased outpatient service costs. Future research should focus on an expanded population of users with longer baseline and follow-up measurements to confirm these results.

Sponsor: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.