Burden of rheumatoid arthritis among US Medicare population: co-morbidities, health-care resource utilization and costs

OBJECTIVES: The study aimed to assess the burden of RA among the US Medicare population (aged ≥65 years) by comparing co-morbidities, health-care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs against matched non-RA Medicare patients. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Medicare fee-for-service claims database from 2010 to 2013. RA Medicare patients were identically matched with Medicare patients without RA (controls) based on demographics. Bivariate analyses were conducted to examine differences between cohorts for co-morbidities, HCRU and costs. A generalized linear model was used to test relationships between patient-level characteristics, HCRU and costs. RESULTS: < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Among US Medicare patients, those with an RA diagnosis had a significantly greater burden of co-morbidities, HCRU and costs compared with a matched cohort without RA.