Weighted-unadjusted annualised all-cause costs and HCRU in SLE versus non-SLE respondents
| MEPS 2016–2018 pooled data | |||
| Measures | SLE | Controls | P value |
| Total weighted, N | 490 385 | 2 625 426 | |
| Unadjusted costs (2018 US dollars) | |||
| Total healthcare expenses | |||
| Annual mean (SE) | 17 270 (1762) | 8350 (868) | ** |
| Total prescription expenses | |||
| Annual mean (SE) | 4512 (510) | 1952 (547) | ** |
| HCRU | |||
| Office-based provider visits, %† | 97.7% | 82.1% | |
| Annual mean (SE) | 18.3 (1.7) | 10.4 (0.5) | ** |
| Outpatient department visits, %‡ | 44.6% | 21.8% | |
| Annual mean (SE) | 5.6 (1.2) | 2.2 (0.1) | * |
| Emergency room visits, % | 31.2% | 15.9% | |
| Annual mean (SE) | 2.5 (0.1) | 1.4 (0.0) | ** |
| Inpatient visits, % | 16.7% | 11.4% | |
| Annual mean (SE) | 1.7 (0.1) | 1.3 (0.0) | ** |
| Number of medications, including refills | |||
| Annual mean (SE) | 38.4 (3.5) | 14.2 (0.7) | ** |
*p<0.01; **p<0.001.
†An office-based provider visit was defined as any visit made to a physician or group practice office, medical clinic, managed care plan or health maintenance organisation centre, neighbourhood/family/community health centre, surgical centre, rural health clinic, company clinic, school clinic, walk-in urgent centres, veterans affairs facility or laboratory/X-ray facilities. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive with outpatient department visits (defined below).
‡An outpatient visit/use/event is any visit made during the person’s reference period to a hospital outpatient department, such as a unit of a hospital or a facility connected with a hospital, providing health and medical services to individuals who receive services from the hospital but do not require hospitalisation overnight.
HCRU, healthcare resource utilisation; MEPS, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey; NS, not significant.