Analysis of Real-World Health Care Costs among Patients Aged 50 Years or Older with Herpes Zoster
2017
This article reports on the direct costs associated with herpes zoster (HZ) and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in the U.S. The authors use a retrospective managed care insurance claims database of 142,519 patients with herpes zoster (9,470 patients [6.6%] had postherpetic neuralgia) and 357,907 matched controls. They found that resource utilization was greater among patients with herpes zoster: after adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, annual incremental health care costs for herpes zoster patients vs. controls were $1,210 for patients aged 50-59 years, $1,629 for those 60-64 years, $1,876 for those 65-69 years, $2,643 for those 70-79 years, and $3,804 for those 80+ years; adjusted annual incremental costs among postherpetic neuralgia patients vs. controls were $4,670 for patients 50-59 years, $6,133 for those 60-64 years, $6,451 for those 65-69 years, $8,548 for those 70-79 years, and $11,147 for those 80+ years.
The authors conclude that that HZ is associated with a significant cost burden, which increases with advancing patient age.
Analysis of Real-World Health Care Costs among Patients Aged 50 Years or Older with Herpes Zoster
Source:
Meyers JL, Madhwani S, Rausch D et al. Analysis of Real-World Health Care Costs among Immunocompetent Patients Aged 50 Years or Older with Herpes Zoster in the United States. Human Vaccine Immunotherapeutics 2017; 13 (8): 1861-1872. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2017.1324373