A retrospective study found that the total healthcare costs in menopausal women treated for vasomotor symptoms were moderately greater compared to those of untreated menopausal women
Vasomotor symptoms are the predominant symptoms among menopausal women; however, these mostly remain untreated. While hormone therapy is the commonly administered treatment option, the lack of compliance with this treatment is due to concerns regarding vascular complications and increased breast cancer risk. A previous study also reported that untreated vasomotor symptoms have a greater cost burden and work productivity loss.
In this retrospective study using claims data from the Optum Research Database, the authors investigated the medical and pharmacy costs as well as the all-cause healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) for treated versus untreated vasomotor symptoms in menopausal women. The findings are published in the journal Advances in Therapy.
Baseline Characteristics
A total of 117,582 women were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. After propensity score matching, the age group 40–44 years included 1725 participants, the age group 45–49 years included 6407 participants, the age group 50–54 years included 9634 participants, the age group 55–59 years included 4833 participants, and the age group 60–63 years included 1458 participants. Approximately 5.1% of participants were from the Northeast, 25.3% from the Midwest, 49.3% from the South, 20.2% from the West, and 0.1% from other regions.
Healthcare Resource Utilization and Costs
There was no standardized difference between the treated and untreated cohorts after propensity matching for HCRU at the time of follow-up. The pharmacy and total healthcare costs were significantly higher in menopausal women treated for vasomotor symptoms. The total costs were approximately 7% higher for the treated women compared to the ones who did not receive treatment.
Comparison Between On-Label Treatment and Untreated Controls
HRCU was comparable between the untreated controls and on-label treatment subgroups at the time of follow-up. The total costs of all-cause and pharmacy were significantly higher in the on-label subgroup than in the untreated controls.
Comparison Between Off-Label Treatment and Untreated Controls
HRCU was significantly higher in the off-label treatment group compared to the untreated controls at follow-up. Similarly, total costs for all-cause, medical, and pharmacy were significantly higher in the treated group.
Source:
Shiozawa, A., Mancuso, S., Young, C., Friderici, J., Tran, S., & Trenz, H. (2024). Comparison of Healthcare Costs for Women with Treated Versus Untreated Vasomotor Symptoms Due to Menopause. Advances in Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-024-02821-0
