Half of Medicare Patients Develop Complications After RSV Infection

Nearly half of Medicare-insured patients with medically attended respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) experienced complications within a month of their RSV diagnosis, according to a study published online in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

“To our knowledge, the current study is among the first using the entire Medicare population with medically attended RSV to identify predictors of RSV-related complications, including prior cardiovascular disease (ie, congestive heart failure), respiratory conditions (ie, pneumonia, hypoxia or dyspnea, acute respiratory failure, lower and upper respiratory tract infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), and older age,” researchers wrote.

The study included 175,392 patients with RSV insured by Medicare who were age 60 and older.

According to the study, 47.9% of patients developed one or more complications an average 1 month after RSV diagnosis. Most common were pneumonia (24%), chronic respiratory disease (23.6%), and hypoxia or dyspnea (22%).

Predictors of RSV-related complications included previous pneumonia, acute respiratory failure, congestive heart failure, hypoxia/dyspnea, non-RSV lower/upper respiratory tract infections, chronic respiratory disease, hypoxemia, chemotherapy, chest radiograph, stem cell transplant, and anti-asthmatic and bronchodilator use, the study found.

Total all-cause health care costs were $7797 higher, and respiratory/infection-related costs were $8863 higher, 6 months after RSV diagnosis compared with 6 months before RSV diagnosis. Increased costs were largely driven by hospitalization costs, researchers reported.

“These findings suggest that many older adults with medically attended RSV experience a significant clinical and economic burden that impacts both the patient and the health care system,” the authors wrote.

Reference

DeMartino JK, Lafeuille MH, Emond B, et al. Respiratory syncytial virus-related complications and healthcare costs among a Medicare-insured population in the United States. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023;10(5):ofad203. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad203