Insomnia has been associated with worse outcomes in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CPOD); however, the impact of concurrent insomnia on healthcare utilization and costs related to COPD is unknown, according to a study by Faith S. Luyster and colleagues.
After their investigation, the researchers reported insomnia was associated with increased outpatient visits, hospitalizations, fills for corticosteroids and antibiotics, hospitalization lengths, and hospitalization costs within 12 months of insomnia diagnoses in patients with COPD. The data were published in Respiratory Research.
Insomnia Worsens 1-Year Utilization and Cost Outcomes
The study’s authors enrolled a retrospective cohort of veterans with COPD from the national Veterans Affairs administration database from 2012 to 2017. Insomnia was defined as an insomnia diagnosis or a prescription of over 30 doses of a sedative-hypnotic medication within 1 fiscal year.
The primary end points of the study were resource utilization and costs related to outpatient visits and hospitalizations within 1 year of indexing. Patients without insomnia had their COPD-related resource utilization estimated based on prescription fills of corticosteroids and antibiotics, and outpatient visits or hospitalizations with a primary diagnosis of COPD.
According to the authors, out of 1,011,646 patients with COPD (96% male; mean years of age, 68.4), 407,363 (38.8%) had insomnia. After adjusting for confounders, insomnia was associated with $10,344 higher hospitalization costs in the 12 months following the first date criteria for both insomnia and COPD were met.
Overall, the authors concluded that “these findings highlight the importance of insomnia as a potentially modifiable target for reducing the burden of COPD on patients and healthcare systems.”
