Perry G Fine1, Yen-Wen Chen2, Eric Wittbrodt3, Catherine Datto3. 1. School of Medicine, University of Utah Pain Research and Management Centers, 615 Arapeen Drive, Suite 200, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA. perry.fine@hsc.utah.edu. 2. HealthCore, Inc., Wilmington, DE, USA. 3. US Medical Affairs, AstraZeneca, Wilmington, DE, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Opioid therapy is often associated with adverse effects, including opioid-induced constipation (OIC), in patients receiving opioids for cancer pain. This retrospective observational cohort study evaluated healthcare utilization and costs during the first year after initiating opioid therapy among cancer patients with (cohort 1) and without (cohort 2) constipation. METHODS: This study used administrative claims data from the HealthCore Integrated Research Environment between January 1, 2006, and April 30, 2014. Eligible patients included adults ≥ 18 years with a diagnosis of cancer who initiated continuous opioid therapy (≥ 30 days). Propensity scores were used to match patients with constipation in a 1:1 ratio to those without constipation. Generalized linear models were used to evaluate healthcare utilization and costs during the 12 months after initiating opioid therapy. RESULTS: After matching, 1369 patients were included in each cohort. Patients with constipation were more than twice as likely as those without constipation to have an all-cause inpatient hospitalization (odds ratio [95% confidence interval (CI)], 2.47 [2.11-2.90]), or pain-related hospitalization (2.15 [1.82-2.54]) during the 12 months after initiating therapy. Mean unadjusted overall healthcare costs during the first 12 months post-index were $21,629 (95% CI, $14,850-$29,018) higher for patients with constipation than for those without constipation. For patients with constipation, total mean (SD) constipation-related costs were $9196 ($26,896). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that OIC is associated with significantly increased healthcare and economic burden in cancer pain patients and that early and ongoing recognition and management of OIC are unmet needs in this population.
PURPOSE: Opioid therapy is often associated with adverse effects, including opioid-induced constipation (OIC), in patients receiving opioids for cancer pain. This retrospective observational cohort study evaluated healthcare utilization and costs during the first year after initiating opioid therapy among cancerpatients with (cohort 1) and without (cohort 2) constipation. METHODS: This study used administrative claims data from the HealthCore Integrated Research Environment between January 1, 2006, and April 30, 2014. Eligible patients included adults ≥ 18 years with a diagnosis of cancer who initiated continuous opioid therapy (≥ 30 days). Propensity scores were used to match patients with constipation in a 1:1 ratio to those without constipation. Generalized linear models were used to evaluate healthcare utilization and costs during the 12 months after initiating opioid therapy. RESULTS: After matching, 1369 patients were included in each cohort. Patients with constipation were more than twice as likely as those without constipation to have an all-cause inpatient hospitalization (odds ratio [95% confidence interval (CI)], 2.47 [2.11-2.90]), or pain-related hospitalization (2.15 [1.82-2.54]) during the 12 months after initiating therapy. Mean unadjusted overall healthcare costs during the first 12 months post-index were $21,629 (95% CI, $14,850-$29,018) higher for patients with constipation than for those without constipation. For patients with constipation, total mean (SD) constipation-related costs were $9196 ($26,896). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that OIC is associated with significantly increased healthcare and economic burden in cancer painpatients and that early and ongoing recognition and management of OIC are unmet needs in this population.
Entities:
Keywords:
Cancer pain; Costs; Healthcare utilization; Opioid-induced constipation
Authors: Bruce H Chamberlain; Michelle Rhiner; Neal E Slatkin; Nancy Stambler; Robert J Israel Journal: J Pain Res Date: 2021-09-01 Impact factor: 3.133