Medication adherence, healthcare resource utilization, and costs among Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia treated with once-monthly paliperidone palmitate or once-every-three-months paliperidone palmitate

Abstract

Objective

Antipsychotics with reduced dosing frequency may improve adherence and clinical outcomes for patients with schizophrenia. This study compared treatment patterns, healthcare resource utilization (HRU), and costs between Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia treated with once-monthly paliperidone palmitate (PP1M) and those who transitioned to once-every-three-months paliperidone palmitate (PP3M).

Methods

Adults with schizophrenia were identified in a four-state Medicaid database (18 May 2014 to 31 March 2019). The index date was the first PP3M claim (PP3M cohort), or a random PP1M claim (PP1M cohort), following ≥4 months of continuous PP1M treatment among patients with ≥12 months of continuous Medicaid enrollment pre- and post-index. Adherence (proportion of days covered by the index treatment ≥80%), persistence (no gap >90/30 days in the PP3M/PP1M supply), HRU, and costs were compared during the 12-month post-index period between cohorts matched 1:1.

Results

Among 2374 patients identified, 374 remained in each cohort after matching (mean age 42 years; 30.5% female). Compared to the PP1M cohort, the PP3M cohort was 2.39 times more likely to be adherent (p < .001), 4.63 times more likely to be persistent (p < .001), 33% less likely to have ≥1 hospitalization (p = .011), and 32% less likely to have ≥1 day with home care services (p = .012). Mean annual medical costs were similar between cohorts ($24,970 in the PP3M cohort and $25,736 in the PP1M cohort; p = .854).

Conclusions

Medicaid beneficiaries who transitioned to PP3M had higher adherence and persistence, and a reduced likelihood of hospitalization relative to those who continued treatment with PP1M. The results suggest potential clinical value to transitioning eligible patients to PP3M.

Keywords:

• Schizophrenia
• medication adherence
• paliperidone palmitate
• long-acting injectable
• healthcare resource use and costs
• Medicaid
• cohort study

Transparency

Declaration of funding

Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC., funded the development and conduct of this study and manuscript. The sponsor was involved in the study design, interpretation of results, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

DL and KJ are employees of Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC, and hold stock in Johnson & Johnson. DP, MZ, MHL, ACS, MVL, and PL are employees of Analysis Group, Inc., a consulting company that has provided paid consulting services to Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC for the conduct of this study. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author contributions

All authors were involved in the following aspects of the research: the conception and design of the study, or analysis and interpretation of the data; drafting of the paper and revising it critically for intellectual content; and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Acknowledgements

Medical writing support was provided by professional medical writer, Loraine Georgy, PhD, an employee of Analysis Group, Inc., a consulting company that has provided paid consulting services to Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC.