Publications
List of publications, posters and presentations
Orme M, Curry A, Buchholz P, Walt J, Groleau D, Holmstrom S. A multi-centre retrospective study of resource utilization and costs associated with glaucoma management in France and Sweden. Value in Health. (2003), 6, (6): 641. ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To assess resource utilization and direct costs associated with managing glaucoma patients initiated on medical therapy over a 2-year period in France and Sweden. METHODS: A total of 267 adult patient records (121 in France, 146 in Sweden) were randomly selected from 4 sites per country based on a diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) or ocular hypertension (OH). Patients had to have a minimum of 2-years follow-up, beginning in December 1997, and started on medical therapy at the time of study entry. Patients were excluded based on ocular comorbidities, early glaucoma surgical management, and prolonged hospitalization. Records were reviewed for clinical and resource data including intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements, visual field parameters, medical consultations, as well as glaucoma medications, tests, and surgeries. Patients with available clinical data were stratified according to severity. Resource data were assigned economic valuation to determine direct costs from the third-party payer perspective. Multiple regression analyses were then performed to identify the main cost drivers in treatment. RESULTS: The total average annual direct cost of treating glaucoma was estimated at €467 patient for all patients. In Sweden, the total annual direct cost was higher than in France (€531 patient vs. €390 patient). Glaucoma medication costs comprised 49% of total direct cost in both countries. Results from the linear regression analysis indicated that patients with the greatest severity categories had drug costs that are 1.8–3.0 times higher, and total costs 3.6 times higher than for less severe patients. Patients with higher baseline IOPs were found to have higher average treatment costs. CONCLUSIONS: Glaucoma treatment costs in Europe are particularly significant for end-stage and higher baseline IOPs patients. Treatment costs represent a substantial proportion of direct costs. These findings suggest that therapies targeted at efficient IOP control slowing disease progression will prove to be the most cost-efficient.
Presented at the Sixth Annual European Congress of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), November 9-11, Barcelona, Spain.
Citation: Elsevier