Abstract 240: Association of Depression Risk With Patient Experience, Healthcare Expenditure and Health Resource Utilization Among Adults With Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Background: Approximately 20% of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) suffer from depression. Currently, these two conditions are the most common causes of disability in high-income countries and projected to become so for all countries by 2030. Depression is a risk marker for ASCVD and associated with worse health outcomes. In a nationally representative US adult population, we evaluate patient experience, healthcare expenditure and resource utilization among non-depressed ASCVD patients based on their risk for depression. Methods: The 2004-2015 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a nationally representative sample was the basis for our study. We included adults ≥18 years with a diagnosis of ASCVD, ascertained by ICD9 codes and/or self-reported data and excluded those with a diagnosis of Depression, identified by ICD9 code 311. Individuals were stratified by depression risk (based on the Patient Health Questionnaire-2): Two-part econometric model was used to study cost data, and regression models for all other associations, adjusted for ASCVD risk factors. Results: The study sample consisted of 16,136 ASCVD patients without the diagnosis of depression (aged 67 ± 10 years, 55% male), translating into 179.2 million US adults, of which 8.6% (15.5 million US adults) had a high risk for depression. Individuals with high vs. low risk for depression had higher overall and out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures ($1,200 & $353, respectively; both p < 0.001). Additionally, those with high risk had higher odds for hospitalizations [OR 1.75 (1.75, 2.32)], poor self-perceived health status [OR 4.83 (3.28, 7.12)], poor patient-provider communication scores [OR 2.44 (1.93, 3.09)], poor patient satisfaction [OR 3.33 (1.64, 6.77)], and significantly worse healthcare-related quality of life measures than those with low risk for depression (Table). Conclusion: Among ASCVD patients without a diagnosis of depression, individuals with a greater risk for depression were more likely to report worse healthcare experience, increased resource utilization and higher healthcare spending. To enhance health outcomes and increase healthcare efficiency, more aggressive screening for depression risk to promote improved recognition and intervention are needed among this vulnerable population.