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Table 5 Resource utilization and associated costs (€) by group

From: Treatment persistence and adherence and their consequences on patient outcomes of generic versus brand-name statins routinely used to treat high cholesterol levels in Spain: a retrospective cost-consequences analysis

Group

Brand-name

Generic

Total

P

Number of patients (%)

3007 (22.7%)

10,237 (77.3%)

13,244 (100%)

Resource utilization

 Medical visits (primary care)

48.1 (27.0)

56.4 (26.4)

54.5 (26.8)

< 0.001

 Laboratory tests

14.3 (9.7)

17.1 (10.3)

16.4 (10.2

< 0.001

 Conventional radiology

8.0 (7.6)

10.7 (7.7)

10.1 (7.7)

< 0.001

 Complementary tests

11.4 (4.4)

15.2 (4.2)

14.3 (4.5)

< 0.001

 Days of hospitalization

1.1 (3.8)

1.8 (5.6)

1.6 (5.2)

< 0.001

 Medical visits (hospital)

8.3 (7.4)

10.0 (7.9)

9.6 (7.8)

< 0.001

 Emergency room visits (hospital)

7.0 (9.0)

8.3 (9.8)

8.0 (9.7)

< 0.001

 Days of occupational disability

36.6 (101.1)

37.6 (105.0)

37.4 (104.1)

0.636

Unadjusted costs

 Healthcare costs

8246 (3699)

9071 (4093)

8927 (4039)

< 0.001

  Costs in primary care

6320 (2658)

6605 (2657)

6555 (2659)

< 0.001

   Medical visits

1105 (630)

1307 (613)

1272 (620)

< 0.001

   Laboratory tests

315 (213)

380 (229)

369 (228)

< 0.001

   Conventional radiology

149 (142)

199 (142)

190 (143)

< 0.001

   Complementary tests

438 (169)

578 (158)

553 (169)

< 0.001

   Drugsa

4314 (2377)

4141 (2359)

4171 (2363)

0.002

  Costs in specialized care

1927 (2136)

2466 (2640)

2372 (2567)

< 0.001

   Days of hospitalization

332 (1180)

568 (1783)

527 (1696)

< 0.001

   Medical visits

763 (691)

923 (725)

895 (721)

< 0.001

   Emergency room visits

832 (1098)

976 (1148)

951 (1141)

< 0.001

Non-healthcare costs (productivity loss)

3562 (10076)

3806 (10631)

3764 (10536)

0.327

Total costs (€)

11,808 (10854)

12,877 (11969)

12,691 (11789)

< 0.001

Adjusted costsb(€)

Brand-name

Generic

Difference

p

Healthcare costs

7980 (7853–8808)

9118 (9059–9176)

1137 (997–1277)

< 0.001

 Primary care healthcare costs

6070 (6024–6116)

6653 (6632–6674)

583 (532–633)

< 0.001

­ Medication cost

4110 (4041–4178)

4188 (4156–4219)

78 (11–149)

0.028

 Specialized healthcare costs

1910 (1805–2016)

2465 (2417–2514)

555 (439–671)

< 0.001

Non-healthcare costs (productivity loss)

3594 (3161–4026)

3860 (3662–4058)

267 (101–843)

0.272

Total costs

11,574 (11103–12,045)

12,978 (12762–13,194)

1404 (885–1922)

0.001

  1. Values expressed as mean (SD standard deviation), p brand-name vs. generic, 95% CI 95% confidence interval in parenthesis
  2. aDrugs include statin costs plus all other possible treatments
  3. bAdjusted by age, sex, number of comorbidities, Charlson index, resource utilization band, proportion of subjects reaching their LDL-cholesterol goal at the start of therapy, statin type, prior cardiovascular event and treatment duration. 95% confidence intervals of the differences calculated with non-parametric 1000 bootstrap iterations
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Lipids in Health and Disease

ISSN: 1476-511X