Medical costs of osteoporosis in the elderly Medicare population

Abstract

Introduction National cost estimates of osteoporosis and fractures in the U.S. have been based on diverse sets of provider data or selected commercial insurance claims. We sought to characterize prevalence and costs for osteoporosis using a random population-based sample of older adults. Methods A cross-sectional estimate of medical cost was made with 2002 data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS). MCBS combines health interviews with claims information from all payers to profile a random sample of 12,700 Medicare recipients. Three cohorts aged 65 or over were defined: 1) patients experiencing a fracture-related claim in 2002; 2) patients with a diagnosis, medication, or self-report for osteoporosis or past hip fracture; and 3) non-case controls. The total cost of patient claims was compared to that of controls using multivariate regression. Results Of 30.2 million elderly Medicare recipients in 2002, 1.6 million (5%) were treated for a fracture that year and an additional 7.2 million (24%) have osteoporosis without a fracture. The estimated mean impact of fractures on annual medical cost was $8600 (95%CI: $6400 to $10,800), implying a U.S. cost of $14 billion ($10 to $17 billion). Half of the non-fracture osteoporosis patients received drug treatment, averaging $500 per treated patient, or $2 billion nationwide. Conclusions The annual cost of osteoporosis and fractures in the U.S. elderly was estimated at $16 billion, using a national 2002 population-based sample. This amount corroborates previous estimates based on substantially different methodologies. Projected to 2008, the national cost of osteoporosis and fractures was $22 billion.

Modelling the Cost Effectiveness of Interventions for Osteoporosis: Issues to Consider

“…4,5 The expenditure on hip fracture in Germany in 2003 was 6 whilst fractures in the elderly were estimated to cost $14 billion in 2002 in the USA. 7 The risks of hip and vertebral fractures have been shown to be distributed exponentially in relation to age, 8 using Scottish data. 9 Thus, given the ageing population in developed countries the budgetary impact of osteoporosis, whether through preventative interventions or through treatment of fractures is likely to increase significantly.…”

Characterization of trabecular bone plate‐rod microarchitecture using multirow detector CT and the tensor scale: Algorithms, validation, and applications to pilot human studies

“…[1][2][3] In the United States, about eight million women and two million men have osteoporosis 4 with medical costs estimated at twenty two billion dollars in 2008. 5 Clinically, osteoporosis is defined by low bone mineral density (BMD). BMD only accounts for approximately 60% to 70% of the variability in bone strength.…”

Tomography of human trabecular bone with a laser-wakefield driven x-ray source

“…As the population ages, degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis are becoming increasingly common and costing health services billions of pounds per year [1].…”