Healthcare service utilisation costs attributable to rheumatoid arthritis in France: Analysis of a representative national claims database

ObjectiveTo estimate healthcare service utilisation costs of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in France and to estimate the fraction of these costs attributable to RA.MethodThe “Échantillon généraliste des bénéficiaires” (EGB) is a 1/97 random sample of the main national claims database covering the French population. A cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis was constituted of all adults benefiting from full coverage for rheumatoid arthritis (ICD-10 M05-06) on 1st january 2009. A control group matched for age and gender was identified. Health expenditures were assessed from the payer's perspective for the year 2010.ResultsThe annual per capita reimbursed total health expenditure was €6,404 in 2010, an amount around two times higher than in the control group €3,095 (P < 0.0001). The main contributors to this extra cost were outpatient care (+€2,407; 72.7%), including medication (+€1,686; 50.0%), and inpatient care (+€903; 27.3%). Patients treated by biological agents generated an age-adjusted per capita annual expenditure about three times higher than untreated patients (€15,757 versus €4,640).ConclusionOnly half of medical expenditure by patients with rheumatoid arthritis is attributable to their disease and use of biological agents has become a major driver of cost.