A multicenter study of annual health service utilization and costs in rheumatoid arthritis

• Published in: Arthritis and rheumatism 1986-04, Vol.29 (4), p.488-493
• Main Authors: Lubeck, Deborah P., Spitz, Patricia W., Fries, James F., Wolfe, Frederick, Mitchell, Donald M., Roth, Sanford H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arthritis, Rheumatoid - economics; Biological and medical sciences; Costs and Cost Analysis; Disability Evaluation; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Health Services - statistics & numerical data; Health Status; Humans; Inflammatory joint diseases; Medical sciences
• ISSN: 0004-3591; 1529-0131
• DOI: 10.1002/art.1780290405

The economic impact of chronic illness has important implications for medical practice and health policy. To determine the yearly costs of illness for those who have rheumatoid arthritis, a detailed, self‐administered questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was completed by 940 patients. Direct costs (recorded as charges) include the average annual expenditures by all patients and third party payers for: hospital care ($913), physician costs ($206), other health professional visits ($71), medications ($436), laboratory tests ($217), radiographs ($116), assistive devices ($24), and nontraditional therapies ($22). The total annual medical costs per patient were $2,533. In a multivariate analysis that controlled for age, sex, education, and disease duration, the outpatient costs, inpatient costs, and total costs were all positively related to the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (P f < 0.01) and global health (P f < 0.01), but were not associated with self‐reported pain.