Healthcare Utilization, Costs, Mortality High With Thromboembolic Events in Polycythemia Vera

Researchers evaluated healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), costs, and mortality in patients with polycythemia vera (PV) who experienced hospitalization related to thromboembolic events (TEs). Findings were presented in a poster at the SOHO 2023 Annual Meeting by Jingbo Yu, MD, PhD, of Incyte Corporation in Wilmington, Delaware, and colleagues.

The researchers evaluated data from TE-related hospitalizations in patients with PV who had inpatient discharges from January 1, 2017, through June 30, 2020, with records obtained using the PINC AI^TM Healthcare Database.

At index hospitalization, patients had experienced a venous thromboembolism (VTE), arterial thromboembolism (ATE), or both. The main outcomes of interest in this study were HCRU and costs associated with TE-related hospitalizations, at both the index TE hospitalization and in the 2 years after index discharge.

There were 3494 patients included in the study, of whom 947 had VTE only, 2416 had ATE only, and 131 had both. The mean patient age overall was 70.7 years (SD, 14.0), and the mean Charlson Comorbidity Index score was 3.2 (SD, 2.3). The majority of patients (72.6%) had Medicare.

In patients with VTE only, deep vein thrombosis was the most common (74.0%) thromboembolic event, followed by pulmonary embolism (43.4%) and superficial TE (5.3%). In patients with ATE only, ischemic stroke was the most common (63.0%) event, followed by myocardial infarction (34.3%), transient ischemic attack (6.6%), and peripheral thrombosis (1.6%).

Overall, the mean total hospitalization cost was $24,403 (in 2021 USD) during the index TE hospitalization, with a mean hospital length of stay of 7 days (SD, 9). Patients with both ATEs and VTEs had the highest mean total hospitalization cost, at $47,079. Mean total hospitalization costs were $28,391 for patients with VTE only and $21,606 for those with ATE only.

Approximately one-third of patients overall had been admitted into an intensive care unit (ICU), and their mean ICU cost was $29,342. The mean ICU cost was highest for patients with both ATE and VTE ($39,560) and lowest for patients with ATE only ($26,209).

TE-related hospital readmissions also increased over time. In the overall population, with 2 years of follow-up the readmission risk was calculated to be 20.0%. Mean overall costs during the index visit, in combination with TE-related readmissions over the 2-year follow-up, were calculated to be $30,285 overall, and were as high as $53,998 for patients who had experienced both ATE and VTE at index.

The all-cause in-hospital mortality rate for the overall population was 6.2% during the index hospitalization, and it was as high as 12.2% for patients who had both ATE and VTE at index. In the overall population, the all-cause in-hospital mortality rate during the 2-year follow-up after the index visit was an additional 4.7%, and as high as 11.5% for those with both ATE and VTE at index.

In this study, the researchers concluded that patients with PV showed high HCRU, costs, and mortality with TE-related hospitalizations. They also noted the importance of preventing TE in patients with PV.

Disclosures: This research was supported by Incyte Corporation. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.

This article originally appeared on Hematology Advisor