Descriptive Characteristics of Males with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in Those Covered by Government (Medicaid) and Non-government (Private) Health Plans

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a rare, inherited neuromuscular disorder. Methods: To describe the clinical characteristics and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) of male patients with DMD in commercial and Medicaid cohorts, this retrospective study identified male patients in the Truven Health MarketScan® Commercial and Medicaid databases diagnosed with hereditary progressive muscular dystrophy (HPMD) presumed to have DMD between 2011–2014. Patients with ≥2 medical claims with a diagnosis for HPMD (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, Clinical Modification: 359.1) were included. Patients were followed for 12 months after diagnosis date, during which clinical characteristics and HCRU were assessed. Results: In total, 2,285 patients met the selection criteria. In these patients, corticosteroid and anti-infective agents were commonly utilized. Physician office visits were extremely common, with over 70% of all patients having at least one visit. Wheelchairs were commonly used, with the incidence of use increasing with age. Mechanical ventilators and airway clearance devices were underrepresented in the data. Conclusion: Patients with DMD had higher annual HCRU costs when compared with a non-DMD age-matched cohort, with patients in commercial cohorts having a higher annual average cost than those in Medicaid cohorts.