Impact of cardiovascular disease on health care economic burden and resource utilization: a retrospective cohort study in adults in the United States with type 2 diabetes with or without stroke, myocardial infarction, and peripheral arterial disease.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate incidence of stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and peripheral artery disease (PAD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and assess associated health care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs in the United States.

METHODS

Patients ≥18 years of age with a T2DM diagnosis, with or without incident stroke/MI/PAD, were indexed between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2020, from the deidentified Optum Clinformatics Data Mart claims database. Incidence of stroke, MI, and PAD was evaluated in the year following T2DM. HCRU and costs were measured in the 12 months following study entry in patients with T2DM + stroke, T2DM + MI, and T2DM + PAD (experimental cohorts) and compared to HCRU and costs in patients with T2DM alone (control cohorts).

RESULTS

Incidence of stroke, MI, and PAD in patients with T2DM was 0.9% ( = 16,034), 0.7% ( = 13,681), and 4.1% ( = 68,479), respectively. Compared to matched patients with T2DM alone, patients with T2DM + stroke/MI/PAD had significantly higher total healthcare costs in the year post-index date (T2DM + stroke: +$5962 per patient per month [PPPM]; T2DM + MI: +$7932 PPPM; T2DM + PAD: +$2652 PPPM;  < .05). Patients with T2DM + stroke/MI/PAD had significantly higher mean HCRU than patients without stroke/MI/PAD in all categories measured.

CONCLUSION

Having stroke, MI, or PAD was associated with increases in HCRU and costs in patients with T2DM. Although PAD was associated with smaller per patient increases in total healthcare costs than patients with T2DM + stroke/MI, the higher frequency of incident PAD may make it more costly than MI or stroke in a large population of patients with T2DM.