Medical costs of Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency-associated COPD in the United States

Background There are limited data on economic aspects of the genetic variant of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the context of the more prevalent form of COPD. The objective of this study was to isolate the healthcare resource utilization and economic burden attributable to the presence of a genetic factor among COPD patients with and without Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (AATD), twelve months before and after their initial COPD diagnosis. Methods Retrospective analysis of OptumLabs® Data Warehouse claims (OLDW; 2000–2017). The OLDW is a comprehensive, longitudinal real-world data asset with de-identified lives across claims and clinical information. AATD-associated COPD cases were matched with up to 10 unique non-AATD-associated COPD controls. Healthcare resource use and costs were assigned into the following categories: office (OV), outpatient (OP), and emergency room visits (ER), inpatients stays (IP), prescription drugs (RX), and other services (OTH). A generalized linear model was used to estimate total pre- and post-index (initial COPD diagnosis) costs from a third-party payer’s perspective (2018 USD) controlling for confounders. Healthcare resource utilization was estimated using a negative binomial regression. Results The study population consisted of 8881 patients (953 cases matched with 7928 controls). The AATD-associated COPD cohort had higher expenditures and use of office visits (OV) and other (OTH) services, as well as OV, outpatient (OP), emergency room (ER), and prescription drugs (RX) before and after the index date, respectively. Adjusted total all-healthcare cost ratios for AATD-associated COPD patients as compared to controls were 2.04 [95% CI: 1.60–2.59] and 1.98 [95% CI: 1.55–2.52] while the incremental cost difference totaled $6861 [95% CI: $3025 - $10,698] and $5772 [95% CI: $1940 - $9604] per patient before and after the index date, respectively. Conclusions Twelve months before and after their initial COPD diagnosis, patients with AATD incur higher healthcare utilization costs that are double the cost of similar COPD patients without AATD. This study also suggests that increased costs of AATD-associated COPD are not solely attributable to augmentation therapy use. Future studies should further explore the relationship between augmentation therapy, healthcare resource use, and other AATD-associated COPD expenditures.