Background/Purpose: Limited information is available about the effect of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) on healthcare resource utilization and healthcare expenditures. The associations between SLE and healthcare resource utilization and expenditures were examined using the most recently available data.

Methods: A retrospective US population-based study was conducted using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data for 2017-2022. Patients with SLE were those who both self-reported SLE diagnosis and who reported SLE-related medication use and/or visit to a rheumatologist in the survey year. Eight patients without SLE were matched to each SLE patient on survey year, age, and sex, to create a reference cohort. Appropriate multivariable generalized linear regression, either negative binomial regression or Poisson regression, with log link, was used to obtain an adjusted annualized event rate ratio (AAERR) for each component of healthcare resource utilization. Multivariable ordinary least square regression was conducted to examine the association between SLE and log expenditures. To avoid retransformation bias of log expenditures, the subgroup-specific smearing factor was used to account for unequal variances between the SLE and non-SLE patients.

Results: Compared to those without SLE, patients with SLE had higher adjusted rates of outpatient visits (AAERR=2.603, p< 0.05), office-based provider visits (AAERR=1.447, p< 0.05), and emergency room visits (AAERR=1.518, p< 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in adjusted rates of inpatient visits between those with and without SLE (AAERR=1.365, p=0.065). With regard to healthcare expenditures, those with SLE had significantly higher average annual healthcare expenditures compared to those without SLE ($18,566 vs. $9,366, p< 0.0001), and the findings were consistent for expenditures by each healthcare resource component. In the adjusted analyses, average annual healthcare expenditures for those with SLE were significantly higher than those without SLE ($13,664 vs. $11,781, p< 0.05).

Conclusion: Our study findings suggest higher healthcare resource utilization and, hence, higher healthcare expenditures among patients with SLE compared to their non-SLE counterparts.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/association-of-systemic-lupus-erythematosus-with-healthcare-resource-utilization-and-healthcare-expenditures-analysis-of-nationally-representative-data-2017-2022/