Economic Burden and Health Care Resource Utilization of Patients With Eosinophilic Esophagitis in the United States

Goals: To estimate health care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs among patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) in the US. Background: The EoE prevalence in the US has risen in recent years. Assessing HCRU and costs may assist in understanding the economic burden of EoE in the US. Study: In IQVIA's PharMetrics Plus claims database, prevalent patients with EoE were identified and matched with non-EoE controls. The index date was a randomly selected EoE diagnosis date for the EoE cohort (January 2018 to June 2019) and a random date for non-EoE controls. Patients had 1-year of continuous enrollment before and after the index date, with ≥1 EoE diagnostic claim before the index. Descriptive and regression analyses adjusting for comorbidities unrelated to EoE were performed to compare HCRU and costs (EoE vs. non-EoE), 1-year after the index date. Results: The analysis included 15,432 patients with EoE and matched non-EoE controls (mean age: 36.2 y). The annual HCRU, including the mean outpatient visits, was higher in patients with EoE versus non-EoE controls [mean difference (MD): 9.2 d; 95% CI: 8.8-9.6]; with consistent results across age groups. The mean total health care costs (annual) were ∼2.5 times higher in patients with EoE than in non-EoE controls. Patients with EoE who underwent esophageal dilation had higher HCRU (emergency room visit: MD: 0.9 d; 95% CI: 0.8-1.0) and total health care costs (MD: 10,174; 8493-11,855) than non-EoE controls. Conclusions: Patients with EoE had higher annual costs and HCRU than non-EoE controls, indicating a substantial economic burden, particularly among patients with EoE with prior esophageal dilation.