Incremental health care services and expenditures associated with depression among individuals with cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE).

Objectives The objective of this paper is to describe the annual direct medical expenditures for cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) patients, and to estimate the incremental health care expenditures and utilization associated with depression among adults with CLE, while controlling for covariates. Methods Using the 2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), we compared CLE patients with and without depression to determine differences in: (a) health care utilization-inpatient, outpatient, office-based and emergency room (ER) visits, and prescriptions filled; and (b) expenditures-total costs, inpatient, outpatient, office-based, ER, and prescription medication costs, and other costs using demography-adjusted and comorbidity-adjusted multivariate models (age, gender, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, perception of health status, poverty category, smoking status, and Charlson Comorbidity Index). Results The total direct medical expenditure associated with CLE is estimated at approximately $29.7 billion in 2014 US dollars. After adjusting for covariates, adults with CLE and depression had more hospital discharges (utilization ratio (UR) = 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.00-1.28)), ER visits (UR = 1.17, 95% CI (1.09-1.37)), and prescribed medicines (UR = 2.15, 95% CI (1.51-3.05)) than those without depression. Adults with CLE and depression had significantly higher average annual total expenditure that those without depression ($19,854 vs. $9735). Conclusions High health care expenditures are significant for patients with CLE, especially among those with depression. Prescription drugs, inpatient visits, and ER visits contributed most to the total expenditures in CLE patients with depression. Early diagnosis and treatment of depression in CLE patients may reduce total health care expenditures and utilization in this population.