BUSINESS BUSINESS
Original Research
Healthcare Costs Among Patients with Excessive Sleepiness Associated with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Shift Work Disorder, or Narcolepsy Rashad Carlton, PharmD; Orsolya Lunacsek, PhD; Timothy Regan, BPharm; Cathryn A. Carroll, PhD Background: Excessive daytime sleepiness affects nearly 20% of the general population and is as-
Stakeholder Perspective, sociated with many medical conditions, including shift work disorder (SWD), obstructive sleep apnea page 339 (OSA), and narcolepsy. Excessive sleepiness imposes a significant clinical, quality-of-life, safety, and
Am Health Drug Benefits. 2014;7(6):334-340 www.AHDBonline.com Received March 26, 2014 Accepted in final form July 7, 2014
Disclosures are at end of text
economic burden on society. Objective: To compare healthcare costs for patients receiving initial therapy with armodafinil or with modafinil for the treatment of excessive sleepiness associated with OSA, SWD, or narcolepsy. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis of medical and pharmacy claims was conducted using the IMS LifeLink Health Plan Claims Database. Patients aged ≥18 years who had a pharmacy claim for armodafinil or for modafinil between June 1, 2009, and February 28, 2012, and had 6 months of continuous eligibility before the index prescription date, as well as International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis for either OSA (327.23), SWD (327.36), or narcolepsy (347.0x) were included in the study. Patients were placed into 1 of 2 treatment cohorts based on their index prescription and followed for 1 month minimum and 34 months maximum. The annualized all-cause costs were calculated by multiplying the average per-month medical and pharmacy costs for each patient by 12 months. The daily average consumption (DACON) for armodafinil or for modafinil was calculated by dividing the total units dispensed of either drug by the prescription days supply. Results: A total of 5693 patients receiving armodafinil and 9212 patients receiving modafinil were included in this study. A lower DACON was observed for armodafinil (1.04) compared with modafinil (1.47). The postindex mean medical costs were significantly lower for the armodafinil cohort compared with the modafinil cohort after adjusting for baseline differences ($11,363 vs $13,775, respectively; P = .005). The mean monthly drug-specific pharmacy costs were lower for the armodafinil cohort compared with the modafinil cohort ($166 vs $326, respectively; P
Original Research
Healthcare Costs Among Patients with Excessive Sleepiness Associated with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Shift Work Disorder, or Narcolepsy Rashad Carlton, PharmD; Orsolya Lunacsek, PhD; Timothy Regan, BPharm; Cathryn A. Carroll, PhD Background: Excessive daytime sleepiness affects nearly 20% of the general population and is as-
Stakeholder Perspective, sociated with many medical conditions, including shift work disorder (SWD), obstructive sleep apnea page 339 (OSA), and narcolepsy. Excessive sleepiness imposes a significant clinical, quality-of-life, safety, and
Am Health Drug Benefits. 2014;7(6):334-340 www.AHDBonline.com Received March 26, 2014 Accepted in final form July 7, 2014
Disclosures are at end of text
economic burden on society. Objective: To compare healthcare costs for patients receiving initial therapy with armodafinil or with modafinil for the treatment of excessive sleepiness associated with OSA, SWD, or narcolepsy. Methods: A retrospective cohort analysis of medical and pharmacy claims was conducted using the IMS LifeLink Health Plan Claims Database. Patients aged ≥18 years who had a pharmacy claim for armodafinil or for modafinil between June 1, 2009, and February 28, 2012, and had 6 months of continuous eligibility before the index prescription date, as well as International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision diagnosis for either OSA (327.23), SWD (327.36), or narcolepsy (347.0x) were included in the study. Patients were placed into 1 of 2 treatment cohorts based on their index prescription and followed for 1 month minimum and 34 months maximum. The annualized all-cause costs were calculated by multiplying the average per-month medical and pharmacy costs for each patient by 12 months. The daily average consumption (DACON) for armodafinil or for modafinil was calculated by dividing the total units dispensed of either drug by the prescription days supply. Results: A total of 5693 patients receiving armodafinil and 9212 patients receiving modafinil were included in this study. A lower DACON was observed for armodafinil (1.04) compared with modafinil (1.47). The postindex mean medical costs were significantly lower for the armodafinil cohort compared with the modafinil cohort after adjusting for baseline differences ($11,363 vs $13,775, respectively; P = .005). The mean monthly drug-specific pharmacy costs were lower for the armodafinil cohort compared with the modafinil cohort ($166 vs $326, respectively; P
