Background: The economic impact of perianal fistulas in Crohn's disease (CD) has not been formally assessed in population-based studies in the biologic era.
Aim: To compare direct health care costs in persons with and without perianal fistulas.
Methods: We performed a longitudinal population-based study using administrative data from Ontario, Canada. Adults (> 17 years) with CD were identified between 2007 and 2013 using validated algorithms. Perianal fistula positive "cases" were matched to up to 4 "controls" with CD without perianal fistulas based on age, sex, geographic region, year of CD diagnosis and duration of follow-up. Direct health care costs, excluding drug costs from private payers, were estimated annually beginning 5 years before (lookback) and up to 9 years after perianal fistula diagnosis (study completion) for cases and a standardized date for matched controls.
Results: A total of 581 cases were matched to 1902 controls. The annual per capita direct cost for cases was similar at lookback compared to controls ($2458 ± 6770 vs $2502 ± 10,752; p = 0.952), maximally greater in the first year after perianal fistulas diagnosis ($16,032 ± 21,101 vs $6646 ± 13,021; p < 0.001) and remained greater at study completion ($11,358 ± 17,151 vs $5178 ± 9792; p < 0.001). At perianal fistula diagnosis, the cost difference was driven primarily by home care cost (tenfold greater), publicly-covered prescription drugs (threefold greater) and hospitalizations (twofold greater), whereas at study completion, prescription drugs were the dominant driver (threefold greater).
Conclusion: In our population-based cohort, perianal fistulas were associated with significantly higher direct healthcare costs at the time of perianal fistulas diagnosis and sustained long-term.
Keywords: Health care economics; Health care utilization; Inflammatory bowel disease; Perianal Crohn’s disease.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.