Incremental healthcare utilization and expenditures for allergic rhinitis in the United States

Objective: Determine incremental increases in healthcare expenditures and utilization associated with allergic rhinitis (AR). Methods: Patients reporting a diagnosis of AR were extracted from the 2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey medical conditions file and linked to the consolidated expenditures file. AR patients were then compared to non‐AR patients determining differences in healthcare utilization: office visits, emergency facility visits, and prescriptions filled, as well as differences in healthcare expenditures: total healthcare costs, office‐based costs, prescription medication costs, and self‐expenditures using demographically and comorbidity adjusted multivariate models. Results: An estimated 17.8 ± 0.72 million adult patients reported AR in 2007 (7.9 ± 0.3% of the U.S. population). The additional incremental healthcare utilizations associated with AR relative to non‐AR patients for office visits, emergency facility visits, and number of prescriptions filled were 3.25 ± 0.40, 0.01 ± 0.02, and 8.95 ± 0.80, respectively ( P < .001, .787, and <.001, respectively). Similarly, additional healthcare expenditures associated with AR for total healthcare expenses, office‐based visit expenditures, prescription expenditures, and self‐expenditures were $1,492 ± 346, $461 ± 122, $876 ± 126, and $168 ± 25, respectively (all P < 0.001). Conclusions: AR is associated with substantial incremental increases in healthcare utilization and expenditures due to increases in office‐based visits and prescription expenditures. As a commonly prevalent and costly disease, AR would be a prime target for guideline development and standardization of care. Laryngoscope, 2011