ACR Meeting Abstracts

ACR Meeting Abstracts

  • Meetings
    • ACR Convergence 2024
    • ACR Convergence 2023
    • 2023 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • ACR Convergence 2022
    • ACR Convergence 2021
    • ACR Convergence 2020
    • 2020 ACR/ARP PRSYM
    • 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting
    • 2018-2009 Meetings
    • Download Abstracts
  • Keyword Index
  • Advanced Search
  • Your Favorites
    • Favorites
    • Login
    • View and print all favorites
    • Clear all your favorites
  • ACR Meetings

Abstract Number: 0082

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Utilization Among Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients

Jean Park, W. Cliff Rutter, Will Cavers, Elisea Avalos-Reyes and Kjel Johnson, CVS Health, Lincoln, RI

Meeting: ACR Convergence 2022

Keywords: COVID-19, Health Services Research, Psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
Session Information

Date: Saturday, November 12, 2022

Title: Health Services Research Poster I: Lupus, RA, Spondyloarthritis and More

Session Type: Poster Session A

Session Time: 1:00PM-3:00PM

Background/Purpose: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are considered at risk for serious COVID infections due to their immunocompromised state resulting from their underlying immune conditions and the use of targeted immune-modulating therapies such as biologics. This study aims to examine how COVID-19 impacted healthcare utilization in these patients.

Methods: Adult patients with a visit for RA (International Classification of Diseases 10 (ICD-10) Diagnosis Code M05.x or M06.x), PsA (L40.5x) or SLE (M32.x) between 3/1/2019 and 3/1/2021 were eligible for inclusion in this retrospective cohort study. Patients were excluded if they did not maintain eligibility for the entire study period. Healthcare utilization was examined as an aggregate of emergency room (ER) visits, inpatient hospitalizations, mental health visits and DMARD prescriptions before and after 3/1/2020 as the pre-COVID and COVID periods, respectively. Monthly rates were compared between periods. P-values < 0.05 were significant.

Results: A total of 32,712 patients were included in the study with 24,613 (75.2%) having RA, 3,748 (11.5%) having PsA and 4,351 (13.3%) having SLE. Monthly ER visit rates (mean [standard deviation (SD)]: 62.6 [11.1] visits/1,000 patients vs. 34.1 [3.9] visits/1,000 patients in pre-COVID and COVID periods, respectively; p< 0.00001), inpatient stays (mean [SD]: 29.1 [4.9] stays/1,000 patients vs. 17.9 [2.0] stays/1,000 patients; p< 0.00001) and mental health visits (mean [SD]: 9.3 [2.1] visits/1,000 patients vs. 7.1 [0.5] visits/1,000 patients; p=0.002) were higher in the pre-COVID period. Figure 1 shows the rates for each type of utilization over the study period. The rates for ER visits and inpatient stays are significantly lower following the onset of the pandemic, while mental health visits appear to be stable at a lower rate. Additionally, the monthly average number of patients utilizing the ER (mean [SD]: 1056.1 [44.5] patients vs. 819.3 [104.2] patients; p< 0.00001) or inpatient services (mean [SD]: 502.2 [30.3] patient vs. 451.1 [66.2] patients; p=0.02) were significantly lower in the COVID period, while no difference was found in the number of mental health service utilizers between periods (mean [SD] 98.6 [9.6] patients vs. 91.5 [9.7] patients; p=0.09). The monthly number of DMARD prescriptions was significantly higher in the COVID period (mean [SD]: 8,791.7 [286.0] fills vs. 9,421.33 [472.0] fills; p=0.0007). The number of DMARD users was similarly elevated in the COVID period (mean [SD]: 7,079.2 [161.8] users vs. 7,554.3 [259.8] users; p=0.00002).

Conclusion: Healthcare utilization was significantly higher in the pre-COVID period on average. The beginning of the pandemic was characterized by lower utilization which rebounded to lower-than-average utilization for the remaining time of the COVID period.

Supporting image 1

Figure 1: Monthly healthcare utilization rates


Disclosures: J. Park, CVS Health; W. Rutter, CVS Health; W. Cavers, CVS Health, Amedisys Inc., Baxter International, Conmed Corp; E. Avalos-Reyes, CVS Health, Novartis, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKlein(GSK), Viatris; K. Johnson, CVS Health, IQVia.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Park J, Rutter W, Cavers W, Avalos-Reyes E, Johnson K. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Utilization Among Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Patients [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2022; 74 (suppl 9). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-healthcare-utilization-among-rheumatoid-arthritis-psoriatic-arthritis-and-systemic-lupus-erythematosus-patients/. Accessed .
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

« Back to ACR Convergence 2022

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-healthcare-utilization-among-rheumatoid-arthritis-psoriatic-arthritis-and-systemic-lupus-erythematosus-patients/

Advanced Search

Your Favorites

You can save and print a list of your favorite abstracts during your browser session by clicking the “Favorite” button at the bottom of any abstract. View your favorites »

All abstracts accepted to ACR Convergence are under media embargo once the ACR has notified presenters of their abstract’s acceptance. They may be presented at other meetings or published as manuscripts after this time but should not be discussed in non-scholarly venues or outlets. The following embargo policies are strictly enforced by the ACR.

Accepted abstracts are made available to the public online in advance of the meeting and are published in a special online supplement of our scientific journal, Arthritis & Rheumatology. Information contained in those abstracts may not be released until the abstracts appear online. In an exception to the media embargo, academic institutions, private organizations, and companies with products whose value may be influenced by information contained in an abstract may issue a press release to coincide with the availability of an ACR abstract on the ACR website. However, the ACR continues to require that information that goes beyond that contained in the abstract (e.g., discussion of the abstract done as part of editorial news coverage) is under media embargo until 10:00 AM ET on November 14, 2024. Journalists with access to embargoed information cannot release articles or editorial news coverage before this time. Editorial news coverage is considered original articles/videos developed by employed journalists to report facts, commentary, and subject matter expert quotes in a narrative form using a variety of sources (e.g., research, announcements, press releases, events, etc.).

Violation of this policy may result in the abstract being withdrawn from the meeting and other measures deemed appropriate. Authors are responsible for notifying colleagues, institutions, communications firms, and all other stakeholders related to the development or promotion of the abstract about this policy. If you have questions about the ACR abstract embargo policy, please contact ACR abstracts staff at [email protected].

Wiley

  • Online Journal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Permissions Policies
  • Cookie Preferences

© Copyright 2025 American College of Rheumatology