Introduction: Celiac disease (CeD) is a lifelong immune-mediated enteropathy in which dietary gluten triggers an inflammatory reaction in the small intestine. This retrospective cohort study examines healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and costs between patients with CeD and matched controls.
Methods: Patients with CeD (cases) with an endoscopic biopsy and ≥2 medical encounters with a CeD diagnosis between January 1, 2010, and October 1, 2015, were identified in the MarketScan databases. The date of the first claim with a CeD diagnosis on or after the endoscopic biopsy was the index date. Cases were matched 1:1 to patients without CeD (controls) on demographic characteristics and Deyo-Charlson Comorbidity Index score. Clinical characteristics, all-cause, and CeD-related HRU and costs (adjusted to 2017 US dollars) were compared between cases and controls during the 12 months before (baseline) and 24 months after (follow-up) the index date.
Results: A total of 11,008 cases (mean age 40.6 years, 71.3% women) were matched to 11,008 controls. During the follow-up, a higher proportion of cases had all-cause and CeD-related HRU including inpatient admissions, emergency department visits, gastroenterologist visits, dietician visits, endoscopic biopsies, and gastroenterology imaging (all P ≤ 0.002). Incremental all-cause and CeD-related costs were in the first ($7,921 and $2,894) and second ($3,777 and $935) year of follow-up, driven by outpatient services costs.
Discussion: In this US national claims database analysis, there was evidence of an increase in both all-cause and CeD-related HRU and related costs in patients with CeD compared with matched patients without CeD, suggesting a significant economic burden associated with CeD.