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CVD Comorbidity Impacts Diabetes Costs

Researchers retrospectively evaluated the impact a CVD comorbidity has on total and diabetes-related health care costs in patients with type 2 diabetes in a 2-year period. The subjects were participants in the West Virginia Medicaid program.

Patients were identified as being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes through ICD-9-CM codes. The added CVD comorbidity affected all categories of health care costs with the exception of diabetes-related prescription drug costs. Compared with patients with type 2 diabetes, patients with type 2 diabetes/CVD had 38.9% higher total health care costs, 239.8% higher emergency department/hospitalization costs, and 35.3% higher outpatient costs. Results were more dramatic for total diabetes-related health care costs: 59.7% for all costs, 346.8% for emergency department/hospitalization costs, and 17.4% for outpatient costs.

Although studies have shown higher health care costs among patients with type 2 diabetes and comorbid conditions, few have evaluated costs among Medicaid patients, where the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is twice that of the U.S. population, the researchers note. In West Virginia, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in the Medicaid patient group was 8%, compared with 4% in the general U.S. population, based on the 1998 data researchers used. Additionally, the heart disease mortality rate in West Virginia was 21% higher than the U.S. rate, based on the 1998 data.

Early identification and management of CVD using pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies not only could reduce the long-term costs of diabetes care, particularly for emergency department/hospitalization, but also could improve a patient's overall quality of life, researchers conclude.

Mody R, Kalsekar I, Kavookjian J, et al.: Economic impact of cardiovascular comorbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes. J Diabetes Complications 21:75–83, 2007.[Medline]

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Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                What's this?