Annual (postindex) healthcare resource use of subjects with systemic sclerosis (SSc) and matched controls (2003–2008).
| Resource | SSc Subjects, n = 1648 | Controls, n = 4944 | p | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | (%) | n | (%) | ||
| Postindex resource use | |||||
| Ambulatory visits | 1642 | (99.64) | 4696 | (94.98) | < 0.001 |
| Visit to primary care physician | 1495 | (90.72) | 4117 | (83.27) | < 0.001 |
| Visit to nephrologist | 39 | (2.37) | 27 | (0.55) | < 0.001 |
| Visit to rheumatologist | 1203 | (73.00) | 97 | (1.96) | < 0.001 |
| Visit to dermatologist | 413 | (25.06) | 797 | (16.12) | < 0.001 |
| Emergency department visits | 507 | (30.76) | 855 | (17.29) | < 0.001 |
| Inpatient hospital stays | 394 | (23.91) | 346 | (7.00) | < 0.001 |
| Diagnostic services (laboratory and radiology) | 1618 | (98.18) | 4222 | (85.40) | < 0.001 |
| Durable medical equipment1 | 265 | (16.08) | 428 | (8.66) | < 0.001 |
| Postindex medications | |||||
| Systemic corticosteroids2 | 638 | (38.71) | 883 | (17.86) | < 0.001 |
| Methotrexate | 155 | (9.41) | 23 | (0.47) | < 0.001 |
| Mycophenolate mofetil | 55 | (3.34) | 2 | (0.04) | < 0.001 |
| Cyclophosphamide | 25 | (1.52) | 5 | (0.10) | < 0.001 |
| Cyclosporine | 2 | (0.12) | 4 | (0.08) | 0.640 |
| Bosentan | 26 | (1.58) | 0 | (0.00) | < 0.001 |
| Ambrisentan | 1 | (0.06) | 0 | (0.00) | 0.250 |
| Epoprostenol | 3 | (0.18) | 0 | (0.00) | 0.016 |
| Trepostinil | 0 | (0.00) | 0 | (0.00) | 1.000 |
| Sildenafil | 38 | (2.31) | 28 | (0.57) | < 0.001 |
| Mean3 | (SD) | Mean3 | (SD) | ||
| Postindex resource use | |||||
| Count of ambulatory visits | 23.98 | (19.70) | 11.15 | (12.44) | < 0.001 |
| Visit to primary care physician | 5.16 | (5.19) | 3.36 | (3.50) | < 0.001 |
| Visit to nephrologist | 0.10 | (1.06) | 0.01 | (0.34) | 0.003 |
| Visit to rheumatologist | 2.96 | (3.12) | 0.06 | (0.61) | < 0.001 |
| Visit to dermatologist | 0.78 | (3.40) | 0.32 | (1.10) | < 0.001 |
| Count of emergency department visits | 1.00 | (3.66) | 0.54 | (2.60) | < 0.001 |
| Count of inpatient hospital stays | 0.33 | (0.76) | 0.09 | (0.35) | < 0.001 |
| Total length of inpatient stay, days | 2.19 | (7.92) | 0.44 | (2.71) | < 0.001 |
| Postindex pharmacy claims | |||||
| Systemic corticosteroids2 | 1.44 | (2.90) | 0.33 | (1.09) | < 0.001 |
| Methotrexate | 0.60 | (2.19) | 0.03 | (0.45) | < 0.001 |
| Mycophenolate mofetil | 0.20 | (1.25) | 0.00 | (0.04) | < 0.001 |
| Cyclophosphamide | 0.06 | 0.58 | 0.01 | (0.20) | < 0.001 |
| Cyclosporine | 0.00 | (0.12) | 0.00 | (0.15) | 0.957 |
| Bosentan | 0.12 | (1.10) | 0.00 | (0.00) | < 0.001 |
| Ambrisentan | 0.00 | (0.15) | 0.00 | (0.00) | 0.317 |
| Epoprostenol | 0.03 | (0.64) | 0.00 | (0.00) | 0.083 |
| Trepostinil | 0 | — | 0 | — | 1.000 |
| Sildenafil | 0.12 | (1.02) | 0.03 | (0.45) | < 0.001 |
↵1 Medical equipment included spirometer, exercise equipment, enteral nutrition infusion pump, parenteral nutrition infusion pump, automatic external defibrillator, orthotic procedures and devices, prosthetic procedures and implants; and enuresis alarm, including medical equipment delivery, setup, and/or dispensing service component of another HCPCS code.
↵2 Systemic corticosteroids included betamethasone, corticotropin, dexamethasone, methylprednisolone, prednisolone, prednisone, or triamcinolone.
↵3 Mean values are per patient per year.