ECONOMIC BURDEN AND POOR QUALITY OF LIFE ASSOCIATED WITH ACROMEGALY IN THE UNITED STATES
Author(s)
Liu S1, Xu Y2, Sisco J3, Begelman SM2, Shi L4
1Tulane University, NEW ORLEANS, LA, USA, 2Genentech Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA, 3Acromegaly Community, Grove, OK, USA, 4Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
OBJECTIVES: To assess economic burden and quality of life (QoL) associated with acromegaly in the United States. METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from August –October, 2014. Patient-reported information on acromegaly-related economic burden was collected. The direct and indirect costs per patient over the past 3 months included out-of-pocket cost, sick leave, leave of absence, direct loss of job due to acromegaly, unemployment, assistance to perform household chores, and family member loss of income. The QoL was assessed by Acromegaly Quality of Life (AcroQoL) and EQ-5D questionnaires. Descriptive analysis was used. RESULTS: A total of 106 patients completed the survey (mean age: 46 years, female: 76%). The annualized office visits per person to physicians, nurses and other health professionals was 11.8, 3.4 and 6.6 visits, respectively. The acromegaly patients had 0.7 emergency room visits, 0.3 hospital admissions and length of hospital stay of 1.8 days. Annualized healthcare out-of pocket cost was $1,790/person. The average number of days unable to work was 34 days with estimated income loss $6,702 /person-year. The average annual loss of income due to direct loss of job, unemployment disability, household chores, and income loss of family members was $6,106, $10,653, $1,685, and $472/person, respectively. As compared with low-symptom group, symptom 0-3 (n=41), the high-symptom group with 4+ symptoms (n=65) had significantly higher costs by category (loss of job: $8,876 vs. $1,717, p=0.017; unemployment disability: $17,102 vs. $429, p=0.003; household chores: $540 vs. $233, p=0.0003; family members’ loss: $128 vs. $23, p=0.028). The average EQ-5D index score and global score of AcroQoL were 0.62±0.23 and 38.61±22.39, respectively. Patients reporting 4 + symptoms had lower QoL scores as compared with those with fewer symptoms (EQ-5D: 0.53 vs. 0.75, p<0.0001; AcroQoL: 27.38 vs. 56.43, p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with acromegaly experienced high economic burden and poor quality of life.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2015-05, ISPOR 2015, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Value in Health, Vol. 18, No. 3 (May 2015)
Code
PDB41
Topic
Economic Evaluation
Topic Subcategory
Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies
Disease
Diabetes/Endocrine/Metabolic Disorders