23 Jan Non-Dialysis Chronic Kidney Disease Expenses On Par With Cancer and Stroke

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Talar Markossian

Talar W. Markossian PhD MPH
Assistant Professor of Health Policy
Loyola University Chicago
2160 S. First Ave, CTRE 554
Maywood, IL 60153

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Approximately 10% of U.S. adults currently have non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease (CKD), while dialysis dependent CKD accounts for only 0.5% of the U.S. population. The escalation in healthcare expenditures associated with CKD starts prior to requirement for dialysis, and treatment costs escalate as non-dialysis dependent CKD progresses.

We examined the total healthcare expenditures including out-of-pocket costs for non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease and compared these expenditures with those incurred for cancer and stroke in the U.S. adult population. After adjusting for demographics and comorbidities, the adjusted difference in total direct healthcare expenditures was $4746 (95% CI $1775-$7718) for CKD, $8608 (95% CI $6167-$11,049) for cancer and $5992 (95% CI $4208-$7775) for stroke vs. group without CKD, cancer or stroke. Adjusted difference in out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures was highest for adults with CKD ($760; 95% CI 0-$1745) and was larger than difference noted for cancer ($419; 95% CI 158–679) or stroke ($246; 95% CI 87–406) relative to group without CKD, cancer or stroke.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: CKD was associated with both high total and out of pocket healthcare expenditures in the U.S. and these expenditures were similar to those of other costly chronic diseases, namely cancer and stroke.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: Future research should examine interventions for preventing the onset or progression of CKD and reducing the out-of-pocket expenditure burden for adults with CKD.

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

BMC Nephrol. 2017; 18: 3.
Published online 2017 Jan 5. doi: 10.1186/s12882-016-0432-2
PMCID: PMC5217199
Non-dialysis dependent chronic kidney disease is associated with high total and out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures
Christina Small,1 Holly J. Kramer,1,2,3 Karen A. Griffin,2,3 Kavitha Vellanki,2,3 David J. Leehey,2,3 Vinod K. Bansal,2and Talar W. Markossian 1

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Last Updated on January 23, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD