INTRODUCTION: acromegalic therapeutic goals are directed at removing the tumor, preventing tumor re-growth and reducing long-term morbidity and mortality. In this scenario, the acromegalic patient needs a variety of health resources (diagnostic tests, surgery, radiotherapy, specialist visits and drugs) for his/her cure, in order to decrease/stop the progression of the disease and to cure the co-morbid diseases. Lack of epidemiological data has suggested performing an Italian retrospective study aiming to assess the health resource consumption that is caused by acromegalic cure and the relative co-morbidities, in order to estimate the amount of the direct costs of acromegalic patients. METHOD: a retrospective study was performed on a total of 134 patients (142 patients selected, 76 in Genoa and 66 in Turin) for a period of about 7 yr preceding the enrolment date. Only direct costs were evaluated by performing an analysis on the perspective of Italian Healthcare Service (SSN). RESULTS: the mean total direct costs for acromegaly cure ranged from 7,968.41 to 12,533.02 Euros/yr (p < 0.01; Mann Whitney Test), respectively, for Responders and Non-Responders. The cost driver was drug (SS analogs) for acromegalic cure. The co-morbidity conditions associated to acromegalic Non-Responder patients are clearly higher than those with well-controlled disease. CONCLUSION: the study supports the hypothesis that controlled patients drove a saving for SSN in comparison to poor control patients that use more health resources.
INTRODUCTION:acromegalic therapeutic goals are directed at removing the tumor, preventing tumor re-growth and reducing long-term morbidity and mortality. In this scenario, the acromegalicpatient needs a variety of health resources (diagnostic tests, surgery, radiotherapy, specialist visits and drugs) for his/her cure, in order to decrease/stop the progression of the disease and to cure the co-morbid diseases. Lack of epidemiological data has suggested performing an Italian retrospective study aiming to assess the health resource consumption that is caused by acromegalic cure and the relative co-morbidities, in order to estimate the amount of the direct costs of acromegalicpatients. METHOD: a retrospective study was performed on a total of 134 patients (142 patients selected, 76 in Genoa and 66 in Turin) for a period of about 7 yr preceding the enrolment date. Only direct costs were evaluated by performing an analysis on the perspective of Italian Healthcare Service (SSN). RESULTS: the mean total direct costs for acromegaly cure ranged from 7,968.41 to 12,533.02 Euros/yr (p < 0.01; Mann Whitney Test), respectively, for Responders and Non-Responders. The cost driver was drug (SS analogs) for acromegalic cure. The co-morbidity conditions associated to acromegalic Non-Responderpatients are clearly higher than those with well-controlled disease. CONCLUSION: the study supports the hypothesis that controlled patients drove a saving for SSN in comparison to poor control patients that use more health resources.
Authors: A J van der Lely; R K Hutson; P J Trainer; G M Besser; A L Barkan; L Katznelson; A Klibanski; V Herman-Bonert; S Melmed; M L Vance; P U Freda; P M Stewart; K E Friend; D R Clemmons; G Johannsson; S Stavrou; D M Cook; L S Phillips; C J Strasburger; S Hackett; K A Zib; R J Davis; J A Scarlett; M O Thorner Journal: Lancet Date: 2001-11-24 Impact factor: 79.321
Authors: B Swearingen; F G Barker; L Katznelson; B M Biller; S Grinspoon; A Klibanski; N Moayeri; P M Black; N T Zervas Journal: J Clin Endocrinol Metab Date: 1998-10 Impact factor: 5.958
Authors: Montse Roset; Sandra Merino-Montero; Manuel Luque-Ramírez; Susan M Webb; Pedro López-Mondéjar; Isabel Salinas; Alfonso Soto; Carmen Bernal; Carlos Villabona; Daniel De Luis; Sergio Donnay; Herminia Pascual; Jesús Pérez-Luis Journal: Clin Drug Investig Date: 2012-04-01 Impact factor: 2.859