Abstract
To determine the cost of depression comorbidity among Japanese adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A retrospective database study of 8968 patients diagnosed with RA between 2010 and 2015 and treated with any RA medication was conducted. Health care utilization characteristics were compared between patients with and without a comorbidity of depression. Propensity score matching was applied to ensure a balanced comparison between the two cohorts. The prevalence of a depression comorbidity was found for 5% of the total RA patients. This comorbidity was associated with 62% (56%) higher total outpatient visits and 66% (163%) higher rate of emergency room visits after 6 (12) months. Burden of depression among RA patients in Japan is relatively high and awareness for depression as a comorbidity of RA needs to be reinforced. Janssen Pharmaceutical KK.
Highlights
To determine the cost of depression comorbidity among Japanese adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
Accumulating evidence from clinical and epidemiological studies indicates that depression is highly prevalent as a common comorbidity in patients affected with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [1,2,3]
A metaanalysis of 72 studies involving 13,189 individuals affected with RA found that 14.8–38.8% of such populations are often diagnosed with a major depressive disorder [5]
Summary
To determine the cost of depression comorbidity among Japanese adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Health care utilization characteristics were compared between patients with and without a comorbidity of depression. Accumulating evidence from clinical and epidemiological studies indicates that depression is highly prevalent as a common comorbidity in patients affected with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) [1,2,3]. Previous studies have further found that individuals affected by depression comorbidity of RA are less likely to adhere to their medication regimens with subsequent elevated health care costs [7, 11]. For Japan, little is known about data on the health care utilization of depression comorbidity among RA patients. The purpose of the present study was to determine characteristics of health care utilization prevalent among the Japanese population affected with RA and comorbidity of depression
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