Epidemiological characteristics, medical costs and healthcare resource utilization of diabetes-related complications among Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To estimate the direct medical costs (DMCs) and healthcare resource utilization (HRU) of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)-related complications in China.

Methods: Data from a total of 74,507 patients were extracted from the 2015 China Health Insurance Research Association Claims Database. The complications determined by primary diagnoses were categorized into three groups: 1) for mild acute and local chronic complications, both outpatients and inpatients were considered; 2) for severe acute complications, only inpatiens were considered; 3) for systemic chronic complications, a 1:1 propensity-score matching was performed to calculate the incremental DMCs and HRU of preexisting and new-onset patients.

Results: Among the mild acute and local chronic complications, the DMCs and HRU per event were the highest for gangrene and laser treatment. Of the severe acute complications, the DMCs and HRU per event were highest for hyperosmotic nonketonic diabetic coma (HNDC), followed by severe hypoglycemia and ketosis. For systemic chronic complications, the DMCs and HRU associated with dialysis and myocardial infarction were the highest both in patients with new-onset complications and preexisting complications.

Conclusions: The estimated economic data are required for policy decisions to optimize resource allocation and to evaluate different approaches for disease management.

KEYWORDS:

• Claims database
• complications
• direct medical cost
• healthcare resource utilization
• type 2 diabetes mellitus

Article Highlights

• The current study, based on 74,507 cases from the national claims database, assessed the epidemiological characteristics, direct medical costs and healthcare resource utilization of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)-related complications.

• T2DM-related complications result in substantial disease and economic burdens in China.

• Chronic complications such as Cardiovascular and renal complications deserve more attention due to their high prevalence and medical costs.

• Detailed information on the burdens of T2DM-related complications is helpful for healthcare resource allocation.

• The cost data of T2DM-related complications facilitates the construction of cost-effectiveness models.

Declaration of interest

X Duan and Q Liu have received research grants from Sanofi China. Y Li, L Liu, and C Li are employees of Sanofi China. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Reviewer Disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author Contributions

Chaoyun Li, Yunguang Li, and Li Liu conceived the study idea and designed the study; Xiaotuo Duan, and Qingjing Liu analyzed the data and drafted the manuscript; All authors revised the manuscript and approved the final version. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This study is supported by Sanofi China.