Joseph Menzin

Assessment of the Economic Burden of COPD in the U.S.: A Review and Synthesis of the Literature

The costs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) pose a major economic burden to the United States. Studies evaluating COPD costs have generated widely variable estimates; we summarized and critically compared recent estimates of the annual national and per-patient costs of COPD in the U.S. Thirteen articles reporting comprehensive estimates of the direct costs of COPD (costs related to the provision of medical goods and services) were identified from searches of relevant primary literature published since 1995. Few papers reported indirect costs of COPD (lost work and productivity). The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) provides the single current estimate of the total (direct plus indirect) annual cost of COPD to the U.S.,

Mortality, length of hospitalization, and costs associated with invasive fungal infections in high-risk patients

38.8 billion in 2005 dollars. More than half of this cost (

One-year costs of ischemic heart disease among patients with acute coronary syndromes: findings from a multi-employer claims database.

21.8 billion) was direct, aligning with the

Quality of Anticoagulation Control and Costs of Monitoring Warfarin Therapy among Patients with Atrial Fibrillation in Clinic Settings: A Multi-Site Managed-Care Study

20–26 billion range reported by two other recent analyses of large national datasets. For per-patient direct costs (in

Trends in the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in the Elderly

US 2005), studies using recent data yield attributable cost estimates (costs deemed to be related to COPD) in the range of

Medication Adherence and Hospitalization Among Patients With Schizophrenia Treated With Antipsychotics

2,700–

The economic burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a U.S. Medicare population

5,900 annually, and excess cost estimates (total costs incurred by COPD patients minus total costs incurred by non-COPD patients) in the range of

Lifetime and Treatment-Phase Costs Associated With Colorectal Cancer: Evidence from SEER-Medicare Data

6,100–

Direct costs of COPD in the U.S : An analysis of medical expenditure panel survey (MEPS) data

6,600 annually. Studies of both national and per-patient costs that use data approximately 8–10 years old or older have produced estimates that tend to deviate from these ranges. Cost-of-illness studies using recent data underscore the substantial current cost burden of COPD in the U.S.

The net cost of Alzheimer disease and related dementia: a population-based study of Georgia Medicaid recipients.

PURPOSE The mortality, length of hospitalization, and costs associated with invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in hospitalized patients were studied. METHODS This retrospective database study used data from the 2004 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide In-patient Sample. Patients were selected for inclusion based on diagnostic codes corresponding to an IFI. A control group was matched to the IFI group based on high-risk conditions (i.e., cancer, infection with human immunodeficiency virus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, and solid-organ, hematopoietic stem cell, or bone marrow transplant), age, sex, and hospital region and teaching status. Excess mortality, length of hospital stay, and costs were estimated as the differences between the IFI and control groups. RESULTS A total of 11,881 patients were identified with a discharge diagnosis of an IFI who could be matched to a control. Frequent infections included candidiasis (40.2%), other mycoses (36.3%), and aspergillosis (16.4%). Patients with IFIs had a significantly higher mortality rate (15% versus 5%), mean +/- S.E. length of stay (18.7 +/- 0.4 days versus 7.3 +/- 0.1 days), and mean +/- S.E. costs (