Patients with MPNs Face ‘High Economic Burden’

Patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) who are employed face a “high economic burden,” especially if they experience thrombotic events, according to research presented at the 2022 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting.

The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study using the MarketScan administrative claims database to identify employed patients aged 18 to 64 years who had at least one diagnosis of a myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) between the beginning of 2009 to the end of 2019. Cohorts for myelofibrosis (n=173), polycythemia vera (n=4,477), and essential thrombocytopenia (n=6,061) were identified separately.

The researchers also selected a control cohort of patients who did not have evidence of MPN, acute myeloid leukemia, or myelodysplastic syndromes who met the same enrollment criteria as the MPN cohorts was also selected. The researchers matched patients with controls on all demographics and clinical characteristics.

The total direct health care costs were significantly higher among patients with MPN than in matched control subjects. The largest mean cost difference was the myelofibrosis cohort, which had a mean cost $67,456 higher than the matched control group. Patients with essential thrombocytopenia had, on average, costs of $22,279 higher than matched controls, while patients with polycythemia vera had costs $10,970 higher than matched controls.

There was also a significantly larger proportion of patients with MPN who had a short-term disability claim compared with the matched control group. Furthermore, patients with MPN also had a larger number of days lost from work due to short-term disability, as well as higher associated indirect costs related to short-term disability compared with matched controls.

Patients with myelofibrosis had an 8.1% higher chance of filing a short-term disability claim, while patients with essential thrombocytopenia had a 7.5% higher chance, and patients with polycythemia vera had a 3.3% higher chance of filing a claim.

The mean total direct health care costs were $45,219 higher in patients with polycythemia vera who had thrombotic events than in patients who had polycythemia vera alone. Costs were $74,279 higher in patients with essential thrombocytopenia who had thrombotic events than in patients who had essential thrombocytopenia alone.

“This real-world analysis found high economic burden among employed patients with MPNs. Patients with [myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, and essential thrombocytopenia] were significantly more likely to take disability leave and had higher direct and indirect costs compared with matched controls,” the researchers concluded. “The presence of [thrombotic events] more than tripled direct costs and nearly tripled use of disability leave for patients with [polycythemia vera] or [essential thrombocytopenia] compared with the full [polycythemia vera] or [essential thrombocytopenia] cohorts.”

Reference

Yu J, Jerry M, Nelson J et al. Direct and indirect costs of patients with myeloproliferative neoplasm diseases. Abstract #2308. Presented at the 64th ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition; December 10-13, 2022; New Orleans, Louisiana.