Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Annualized Costs Totals More Than $10,000 Per Patient

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) places a heavy economic burden on patients affected by this rare condition, with mean annual costs for admission and inpatient care totaling more than $10,000 per patient. This is according to findings from a registry analysis published in CHEST.

The retrospective analysis included the first 300 participants who were enrolled in the ongoing IPF Prospective Outcomes (IPF-PRO) Registry (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01915511) between June 5, 2014, and April 12, 2016. All participants were ≥40 years of age (mean age, 69 years) and had a diagnosis of IPF. Researchers investigated the time to first hospitalization as well as estimated annualized costs associated with hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and emergency department visits.

The probability of hospitalization at 6 months and 12 months was 18.1% and 30.2%, respectively. Additionally, the probably of first hospitalization reached 51% at 12 months in participants with force vital capacity <50% predicted and 50% at 12 months in individuals with diffusing lung capacity for carbon monoxide <30% predicted. During the first 12-month follow-up period, each participant had an average of 0.11 visits to the emergency department, 0.42 hospitalizations, 0.08 admissions to the ICU, 2.18 hospital days, and 0.45 ICU days. Overall, the mean annual costs for admission to the ICU was $10,098 (95% CI, $4732-$16,662), whereas the mean annual costs for inpatient care was $13,975 (95% CI, $8482-$20,918).

Limitations of the study included the reliance on registry data, its retrospective design, and the small number of participants. Although 300 participants is considered large given the rarity of the disorder, a bigger sample size would have improved the generalizability of the results.

The researchers suggested that additional studies are needed to investigate and establish “factors such as treatments associated with the economic burden of IPF and, more importantly, clinical outcomes.”

Disclosure: Several study authors declared affiliations with the pharmaceutical industry. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.

Reference

Fan Y, Bender SD, Conoscenti CS, et al; on behalf of the IPF-PRO™ Registry Investigators. Hospital-based resource use and costs among patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis enrolled in the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Prospective Outcomes (IPF-PRO) registry [published online January 28, 2020]. CHEST. doi:10.1016/j.chest.2019.12.041