Changes in Sales of Tobacco and Nicotine Replacement Therapy Products Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated social distancing policies such as lockdowns and quarantine influenced people's lives and health behaviors. We comprehensively assessed national trends in sales of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, and over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products before and during the pandemic, allowing for cross-product comparisons. Stockpiling behavior was also assessed.

Trends in Nicotine Strength in Electronic Cigarettes Sold in the United States by Flavor, Product Type, and Manufacturer, 2017-2022.

Introduction: Most e-cigarettes contain highly addictive nicotine. This study assessed trends in nicotine strength in e-cigarettes sold in the United States during January 2017-March 2022.

Aims And Methods: We obtained January 2017-March 2022 national retail e-cigarette sales data from NielsenIQ.

Cost of Cigarette Smoking‒Attributable Productivity Losses, U.S., 2018.

Introduction: Information on morbidity-related productivity losses attributable to cigarette smoking, an important component of the economic burden of cigarette smoking, is limited. This study fills this gap by estimating these costs in the U.S.

Inpatient care cost, duration, and acute complications associated with BMI in children and adults hospitalized for COVID-19.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the association of BMI with inpatient care cost, duration, and acute complications among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 at 273 US hospitals.

Methods: Children (aged 2-17 years) and adults (aged ≥18 years) hospitalized for COVID-19 during March 2020-July 2021 and with measured BMI in a large electronic administrative health care database were included. Generalized linear models were used to assess the association of BMI categories with the cost and duration of inpatient care.

Estimation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalization Costs From a Large Electronic Administrative Discharge Database, March 2020-July 2021.

Background: Information on the costs of inpatient care for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is very limited. This study estimates the per-patient cost of inpatient care for adult COVID-19 patients seen at >800 US hospitals.

Methods: Patients aged ≥18 years with ≥1 hospitalization during March 2020-July 2021 with a COVID-19 diagnosis code in a large electronic administrative discharge database were included.

U.S. healthcare spending attributable to cigarette smoking in 2014.

Introduction: Cigarette smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S. Smoking also carries an economic burden, including smoking-attributable healthcare spending.

Receipt of and Spending on Cessation Medication Among US Adults With Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance, 2010 and 2017.

Objective: Studies examining the use of smoking cessation treatment and related spending among enrollees with employer-sponsored health insurance are dated and limited in scope. We assessed changes in annual receipt of and spending on cessation medications approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) among tobacco users with employer-sponsored health insurance from 2010 to 2017.

Methods: We analyzed data on 439 865 adult tobacco users in 2010 and 344 567 adult tobacco users in 2017 from the IBM MarketScan Commercial Database.

Cost Effectiveness of the Tips From Former Smokers® Campaign-U.S., 2012-2018.

Introduction: Since 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted the national Tips From Former Smokers® public education campaign, which motivates smokers to quit by featuring people living with the real-life health consequences of smoking. Cost effectiveness, from the healthcare sector perspective, of the Tips From Former Smokers® campaign was compared over 2012-2018 with that of no campaign.

Methods: A combination of survey data from a nationally representative sample of U.

Prevalence and medical expenditures of diabetes-related complications among adult Medicaid enrollees with diabetes in eight U.S. states.

Aims: To estimate the prevalence and medical expenditures of diabetes-related complications (DRCs) among adult Medicaid enrollees with diabetes.

Methods: We estimated the prevalence and medical expenditures for 12 diabetes-related complications by Medicaid eligibility category (disability-based vs. non-disability-based) in eight states.

Medical expenditures for hypertensive disorders during pregnancy that resulted in a live birth among privately insured women.

Objective: To estimate the excess maternal health services utilization and direct maternal medical expenditures associated with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy and one year postpartum among women with private insurance in the United States.

Study Design: We used 2008-2014 IBM MarketScan® Commercial Databases to identify women aged 15-44 who had a pregnancy resulting in live birth during 1/1/09-12/31/13 and were continuously enrolled with non-capitated or partially capitated coverage from 12 months before pregnancy through 12 months after delivery. Hypertensive disorders identified by diagnosis codes were categorized into three mutually exclusive types: preeclampsia and eclampsia, chronic hypertension, and gestational hypertension.

Factors Contributing to the Rising National Cost of Glucose-Lowering Medicines for Diabetes During 2005-2007 and 2015-2017.

Objective: We examined changes in glucose-lowering medication spending and quantified the magnitude of factors that are contributing to these changes.

Research Design And Methods: Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we estimated the change in spending on glucose-lowering medications during 2005-2007 and 2015-2017 among adults aged ≥18 years with diabetes. We decomposed the increase in total spending by medication groups: for insulin, by human and analog; and for noninsulin, by metformin, older, newer, and combination medications.

Medical Costs Among Youth Younger Than 20 Years of Age With and Without Diabetic Ketoacidosis at the Time of Diabetes Diagnosis.

Objective: While diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is common in youth at the onset of the diabetes, the excess costs associated with DKA are unknown. We aimed to quantify the health care services use and medical care costs related to the presence of DKA at diagnosis of diabetes.

Research Design And Methods: We analyzed data from the U.

Trajectory of Excess Medical Expenditures 10 Years Before and After Diabetes Diagnosis Among U.S. Adults Aged 25-64 Years, 2001-2013.

Objective: We assessed the excess medical expenditures for adults newly diagnosed with diabetes, for up to 10 years before and after diabetes diagnosis.

Research Design And Methods: Using the 2001-2013 MarketScan data, we identified people with newly diagnosed diabetes among adults aged 25-64 years (diabetes cohort) and matched them with people who did not have diagnosed diabetes (control cohort) using 1:1 propensity score matching. We followed these two cohorts up to ±10 years from the index date, with annual matched cohort sizes ranging from 3,922 to 39,726 individuals.

Modeling the impact of obesity on the lifetime risk of chronic kidney disease in the United States using updated estimates of GFR progression from the CRIC study.

Rationale & Objective: As the prevalence of obesity continues to rise in the United States, it is important to understand its impact on the lifetime risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Study Design: The CKD Health Policy Model was used to simulate the lifetime risk of CKD for those with and without obesity at baseline. Model structure was updated for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decline to incorporate new longitudinal data from the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study.

Economic Costs Attributable to Diabetes in Each U.S. State.

Objective: To estimate direct medical and indirect costs attributable to diabetes in each U.S. state in total and per person with diabetes.

Medical Expenditures Associated With Diabetes Among Adult Medicaid Enrollees in Eight States.

Introduction: Little information is available on state-specific financial burdens of diabetes in the Medicaid population, yet such information is essential for state Medicaid programs to plan diabetes care and evaluate the benefits of diabetes prevention. We estimated medical expenditures associated with diabetes among adult Medicaid enrollees in 8 states.

Methods: We analyzed the latest available 2012 CMS Medicaid claims data for 1,193,811 adult enrollees aged 19-64 years in 8 states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, New York, and Oklahoma.

Diabetes-Attributable Nursing Home Costs for Each U.S. State.

Objective: To estimate the diabetes-attributable nursing home costs for each state.

Research Design And Methods: We used a diabetes-attributable fraction (AF) approach to estimate nursing home costs attributable to diabetes (in 2013 dollars) in aggregate and per person with diabetes in each state. We calculated the AFs as the difference in diabetes prevalence between nursing homes and the community.

Medical Expenditures Associated With Diabetes in Myocardial Infarction and Ischemic Stroke Patients.

Introduction: The coexistence of diabetes among people with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is common. However, little is known about the extent of excess medical expenditures associated with having diabetes among AMI and AIS patients.

Methods: Data on 3,307 AMI patients and 2,460 AIS patients aged ≥18 years from the 2008 to 2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey were analyzed.

Medical Expenditures Associated With Diabetes Among Youth With Medicaid Coverage.

Background: Information on diabetes-related excess medical expenditures for youth is important to understand the magnitude of financial burden and to plan the health care resources needed for managing diabetes. However, diabetes-related excess medical expenditures for youth covered by Medicaid program have not been investigated recently.

Objective: To estimate excess diabetes-related medical expenditures among youth aged below 20 years enrolled in Medicaid programs in the United States.

The cost-effectiveness of using chronic kidney disease risk scores to screen for early-stage chronic kidney disease.

Background: Better treatment during early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) may slow progression to end-stage renal disease and decrease associated complications and medical costs. Achieving early treatment of CKD is challenging, however, because a large fraction of persons with CKD are unaware of having this disease. Screening for CKD is one important method for increasing awareness.

Changes in Disparity in County-Level Diagnosed Diabetes Prevalence and Incidence in the United States, between 2004 and 2012.

Background: In recent decades, the United States experienced increasing prevalence and incidence of diabetes, accompanied by large disparities in county-level diabetes prevalence and incidence. However, whether these disparities are widening, narrowing, or staying the same has not been studied. We examined changes in disparity among U.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Anemia Treatment for Persons with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: Although major guidelines uniformly recommend iron supplementation and erythropoietin stimulating agents (ESAs) for managing chronic anemia in persons with chronic kidney disease (CKD), there are differences in the recommended hemoglobin (Hb) treatment target and no guidelines consider the costs or cost-effectiveness of treatment. In this study, we explored the most cost-effective Hb target for anemia treatment in persons with CKD stages 3-4.

Methods And Findings: The CKD Health Policy Model was populated with a synthetic cohort of persons over age 30 with prevalent CKD stages 3-4 (i.