Examining the Prevalence of Atherosclerotic CVD in Type 2 Diabetes Patients, Associated Costs

Researchers of a study published in Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism found that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitis and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) were more likely to have ASCVD in multiple vascular beds, leading to higher health care costs and utilization.

Using a large, nationwide, real-world sample of nearly half a million adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus and ASCVD from an administrative claims database, Wayne Weng, PhD, Novo Nordisk Inc, Plainsboro, NJ, and colleagues, categorized patients by number of vascular beds affected and measured annual health care utilization costs for 2015.

Of the 539,089 patients’ data examined, 47% reported ASCVD affecting >1 vascular bed. Patients were also categorized by age group: 18 to 44, 45 to 64, and ≥66 years.

“The most prevalent ASCVD diagnoses were acute coronary syndrome (26.6%), peripheral arterial disease (24.5%) and stroke (18.6%),” Dr Weng and colleagues explained.

For each patient, the mean annual health care costs increased with increasing number of vascular beds from 1 ($17,741) to 2 ($25,877) to 3 ($33,412). Utilization also increased proportionally to the number of affected vascular beds.
“Among individuals with 1 affected vascular bed, mean total health care costs per person were comparable across age subgroups,” noted Dr Weng and colleagues. “However, if >1 vascular bed was affected, the mean total health care costs were highest in the youngest age cohort.”

“These real‐world data showed that almost half of individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus and ASCVD had ASCVD affecting >1 vascular bed,” concluded Dr Weng and colleagues. “A higher number of affected vascular beds were associated with higher mean total healthcare costs and utilization, with a disproportionate increase noted in younger relative to older people.”

—Edan Stanley

Reference:
Weng W, Kong SX, Ganguly R, et al. The prevalence of cardiovascular disease by vascular bed and impact on healthcare costs in a large, real-world population with type 2 diabetes. Endocrinol Diabetes Metab. 2020;3(2):e00106. Published 2020 Jan 20. doi:10.1002/edm2.106