Long-Acting Injectable Agents May Help Reduce Downstream Medical Costs, Resource Use for Schizophrenia

Psychiatry Advisor Contributing Writer
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A team of investigators assessed medical resource utilization among patients treated with either oral or long-acting injectable antipsychotic agents for schizophrenia.

The following article is a part of conference coverage from Psych Congress 2021 , held October 29th through November 1, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas. The team at Psychiatry Advisor will be reporting on the latest news and research conducted by leading experts in psychiatry. Check back for more from the Psych Congress 2021.
 

Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotic agents could help reduce downstream medical costs and emergency department/inpatient resource utilization, according to study results recently presented at Psych Congress 2021, held from October 29 to November 1, 2021, in San Antonio, Texas.

This study included 5675 individuals with schizophrenia receiving continuous treatment (≥90 days, gaps ≤7 days) using either atypical LAI antipsychotic agents (n=259) or oral antipsychotic agents (n=3867); patients were also included in 2 other cohorts (concomitant LAI and oral agents or neither), although those cohorts were not considered as part of this evaluation. The study researchers assessed schizophrenia-related hospitalizations, outpatient services, visits to emergency departments, and associated costs within 1 year following the initial pharmacy claim for an atypical oral or LAI antipsychotic agent.

For the oral vs LAI cohort, annual mean utilization per person with at least 1 hospital visit was lower with respect to office visits (7.14 vs 9.55) and other outpatient visits (7.55 vs 10.61) but higher with respect to emergency department visits (1.68 vs 1.38) and hospitalizations (1.38 vs 1.19). Compared with the LAI cohort, the oral experienced more prevalent 30-day readmissions (11.18% vs 4.76%) and higher average annual medical costs per person with at least 1 hospital visit ($26,893 vs $20,324).

The study authors concluded that “LAIs may decrease downstream medical resource utilization of inpatient and emergency services, thereby reducing total schizophrenia-related medical costs,” despite the fact that “LAIs require more office/outpatient visits because of required administration by clinicians.”

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Disclosure: This clinical trial was supported by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.

 

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Reference

Kane JM, Mychaskiw MA, Lim S, et al. Annual schizophrenia-related medical resource utilization and costs among patients in the United States utilizing atypical antipsychotic agents: an analysis of a commercial claims database. Presented at: Psych Congress 2021; October 29-November 1, 2021; San Antonio, Texas. Poster  53.