Healthcare resource use, treatment patterns, and costs for patients living with osteogenesis imperfecta—results from a US retrospective claims database

Background Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a hereditary connective tissue disorder characterized by frequent fractures. This study aimed to quantify health resource utilization (HRU) and associated costs of a US OI population.Materials and Methods A longitudinal US claims database was queried for patients with ≥2 ICD-10 OI diagnosis codes (Q78.0) and ≥12 months of continuous enrollment from January 2016 to February 2020. A non-OI comparator group was created using 1:3 matching for age, gender, and payer type. Pharmacological treatment patterns, HRU, and costs were summarized by cohort.Results A total of 2095 patients with OI (56% female; 87% commercial-insured) were included in analyses. Over two-thirds of patients with OI had some pain- or psychiatric-related treatment(s), most commonly opioids (54%). Patients with OI had higher rates of hospitalizations (0.23 vs 0.05), ER visits (0.7 vs 0.24), physician office visits (11.52 vs 5.72), and outpatient hospital visits (5.15 vs 1.34) per year compared to non-OI. Fracture repairs and musculoskeletal surgical procedures occurred in >1/3 of patients with OI and <10% of the non-OI cohort. Average annualized healthcare costs were higher for OI vs non-OI ($20,753 vs $5170) across all ages.Conclusions Healthcare costs and HRU were higher for individuals with an OI diagnosis, compared to the non-OI cohort.