Journal of medical economics
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To assess comorbidities, pain-related pharmacotherapy, and healthcare resource use among patients with fibromyalgia (FM) newly prescribed pregabalin or duloxetine (index event) in usual care settings. ⋯ Patients with FM prescribed pregabalin or duloxetine were characterized by a significant comorbidity and pain/adjuvant medication burden. Although healthcare costs increased in both groups, there were no statistically significant differences in direct healthcare costs between the two groups.
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To describe treatment patterns and healthcare burden among individuals with suspected pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), as identified through a practice guideline-based healthcare claims algorithm. ⋯ Patients with suspected PAH were likely to initiate treatment with oral monotherapy, had high compliance rates, and received close ambulatory follow-up. PAH-related costs constituted the majority of all-cause healthcare costs.
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Abdominal paracentesis is commonly performed for diagnostic, therapeutic, and palliative indications, but the use of ultrasound guidance for these procedures is relatively recent, variable, and not well documented. A retrospective database analysis of abdominal paracentesis procedures was performed to determine whether ultrasound guidance was associated with differences in adverse events (AEs) or hospital costs, compared to procedures without ultrasound guidance. ⋯ The use of ultrasound guidance in abdominal paracentesis procedures is associated with fewer AEs and lower hospitalization costs than procedures where ultrasound is not used.
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Bone metastases are common in patients with advanced breast cancer, and place patients at risk for skeletal-related events (SREs) including pathologic fracture, spinal cord compression, hypercalcemia of malignancy, and the need for radiotherapy and/or surgery to bone. These SREs are associated with reduced survival and quality-of-life. The nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates Zometa (zoledronic acid, ZOL) and Aredia (pamidronate disodium, PAM) reduce SRE risk in patients with bone metastases from breast cancer. This database analysis compared SRE and mortality rates in a real-life setting in women with breast cancer receiving ZOL and PAM, and assessed long-term ZOL benefit. ⋯ This analysis suggests that fewer than half of breast cancer patients with bone metastases receive IV-BPs. Longer persistence with ZOL was associated with lower SRE risk, and ZOL-treated patients had longer survival and a non-significant trend toward fewer SREs compared with PAM.
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Comparative Study
Direct and indirect costs associated with Dupuytren's contracture.
To compare direct (medical and drug) and indirect (work loss) costs between privately insured US employees with Dupuytren's contracture (DC) and demographically matched controls without DC. ⋯ Employees with DC had substantially higher comorbidity rates, utilization, and direct and indirect costs compared with demographically matched controls.