Economic and clinical burden of chronic corticosteroid use in patients with Crohn[apos]s disease initiated on biologic or conventional therapies in the US: A retrospective claims study

Background: Chronic corticosteroid (CS) use is associated with complications, but estimates of the economic and clinical burden in patients with Crohn 's disease (CD) are lacking. Objective: To estimate the burden of chronic CS use in CD in the United States in terms of health care resource utilization (HRU), health care costs, and CS -related complications. Methods: This was a retrospective study of adults with CD initiated on biologics or conventional therapies (index date). Patients from a deidenti fied insurance claims database (20042021) were classi fied as chronic CS users ( >90 days of CS use) or nonchronic CS users based on a 12 -month landmark period starting on the index date. Patient baseline characteristics were balanced, and outcomes (HRU, costs [2021 US dollars], and CS -related complications) 12 months after the landmark period were compared between CS groups using regressions with nonparametric bootstrap resampling to estimate con fidence intervals and P values. Results: Biologic initiators (mean age: 44 years, 55% female) included 3366 chronic and 3401 nonchronic CS users; conventional therapy initiators (mean age: 51 years, 59% female) included 3657 chronic and 3727 nonchronic CS users. Compared with nonchronic users, chronic users had signi ficantly more inpatient days and outpatient visits (biologic initiators: 37% and 24% more, respectively; conventional therapy initiators: 36% and 17%, respectively; all P <0.05). Chronic users also had significantly higher mean all -cause total costs per -patient -per year (biologic: $72,967 vs. $63,100, mean cost difference [MCD] = $9867; conventional therapy: $40,144 vs. $26,426, MCD = $13,718; all P <0.001), as well as higher odds of infection (biologic: 14% higher; conventional therapy: 20% higher) and bone loss (63% and 41%, respectively) (all P <0.05). Conclusion: Chronic CS use in patients with CD is associated with a signi ficant economic and clinical burden including higher HRU, health care costs, and prevalence of complications, suggesting unmet needs in the clinical management of this population. (c) 2023 American Pharmacists Association (R) . Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.