Impact on quality of life, health care access, and health care utilization of individuals with vitiligo: an analysis of the All of Us research program.

Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin depigmenting disorder that can negatively impact quality of life. A new FDA approved treatment for vitiligo offers considerable promise, and to maximize benefits strategies to implementation should consider disease burden, healthcare access, and healthcare utilization of individuals with vitiligo. Using the All of Us Research Program's large data set, including survey responses, we investigated these outcomes among participants with and without vitiligo.

Family and Caregiver Spillover Effects in Cost-Utility Analyses of Alzheimer's Disease Interventions.

Background And Objective: Alzheimer's disease or dementia can impose a significant burden on family and other informal caregivers. This study investigated how the inclusion of family/informal caregiver spillover effects in a cost-utility analysis may influence the reported value of Alzheimer's disease/dementia interventions.

Methods: We used PubMed to identify Alzheimer's disease or dementia cost-utility analyses published from 1 January, 2000 to 31 March, 2018.

Comorbidity Type and Health Care Costs in Type 2 Diabetes: A Retrospective Claims Database Analysis.

Introduction: Previous studies suggest that the type and combination of comorbidities may impact diabetes care, but their cost implications are less clear. This study characterized how diabetes patients' health care utilization and costs may vary according to comorbidity type classified on the basis of the Piette and Kerr framework.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational study of privately insured US adults newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (n = 138,466) using the 2014-2016 Optum Clinformatics Data Mart.

Assessing the Value of Treatment to Address Various Symptoms Associated with Multiple Sclerosis: Results from a Contingent Valuation Study.

Background: Although it is well recognized that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may experience impairments in addition to limited mobility, there has been little effort to study their relative importance to patients with the condition. The objective of this study was to assess patient preferences for addressing various MS symptoms.

Methods: This study was conducted at Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts.

Does framing of cancer survival affect perceived value of care? A willingness-to-pay survey of US residents.

Aims: To investigate the relationship between the framing of survival gains and the perceived value of cancer care.

Methods: Through a population-based survey of 2040 US adults, respondents were randomized to one of the two sets of hypothetical scenarios, each of which described the survival benefit for a new treatment as either an increase in median survival time (median survival), or an increase in the probability of survival for a given length of time (landmark survival). Each respondent was presented with two randomly selected scenarios with different prognosis and survival improvements, and asked about their willingness to pay (WTP) for the new treatments.

Willingness to pay for diagnostic technologies: a review of the contingent valuation literature.

Objectives: To understand how people value information from diagnostic technologies, we reviewed and analyzed published willingness-to-pay (WTP) studies on the topic.

Methods: We searched PubMed for English-language articles related to WTP for diagnostic laboratory tests published from 1985 through 2011. We characterized methodological differences across studies, examined individual- and technology-level factors associated with WTP, and summarized median WTP values across different diagnostic tests.

Potentially avoidable hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Background: Individuals with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD) have more frequent hospitalizations than individuals without ADRD, and some of these admissions may be preventable with proactive outpatient care.

Methods: This study was a cross-sectional analysis of Medicare claims data from 195,024 fee-for-service ADRD beneficiaries aged ≥65 years and an equal number of matched non-ADRD controls drawn from the 5% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries in 2007-2008. We analyzed the proportion of patients with potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAHs, as defined by the Medicare Ambulatory Care Indicators for the Elderly) and used logistic regression to examine patient characteristics associated with PAHs.

The economics of mild cognitive impairment.

Individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at elevated risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although the economic burden of AD itself is well recognized, little is known about the direct and indirect costs associated with MCI before the onset of AD. Insufficient data on the economic impact of MCI as well as other gaps in the knowledge base (such as estimates of MCI progression rates and factors that drive MCI-related costs) present challenges to understanding the burden of MCI and to modeling the cost-effectiveness of potential MCI interventions.

An examination of Alzheimer's disease case definitions using Medicare claims and survey data.

Background: The prevalence and expenditure estimates of Alzheimer's disease (AD) from studies using one data source to define cases vary widely. The objectives of this study were to assess agreement between AD case definitions classified with Medicare claims and survey data and to provide insight into causes of widely varied expenditure estimates.

Methods: Data were obtained from the 1999-2004 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey linked with Medicare claims (n = 57,669).

Risk adjustment for Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Objective: To compare prospective risk adjustment measures on their ability to predict expenditures for Medicare beneficiaries with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).

Methods: Data were obtained from the 1999-2004 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey linked with Medicare claims. Beneficiaries' base-year demographic and health characteristics were used to construct risk adjustment measures, comorbidity measures, functional status measures, and prior expenditures that were used to predict the subsequent year's total and drug expenditures.

Economic implications of comorbid conditions among Medicaid beneficiaries with COPD.

Objectives: To characterize a comprehensive comorbidity profile and to explore the economic implications of comorbidity among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed medical claims from the Maryland Medicaid database. We employed a 1:2 case-control design to select COPD patients (n=1388) and demographically matched controls (n=2776) aged 40 to 64 years with 24 months of continuous enrollment.