Evaluating the cost of medications for ambulatory HIV-infected persons in association with landmark changes in antiretroviral therapy. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Evaluating the cost of medications for ambulatory HIV-infected persons in association with landmark changes in antiretroviral therapy.

J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1998 Apr 1;17(4):354-60. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/98184349
Perdue BE; Weidle PJ; Everson-Mays RE; Bozek PS; Department of Pharmacy Services, University of Maryland Medical; System, Baltimore, USA.

Abstract: Costs of medications for ambulatory HIV-infected people increase as knowledge of antiretroviral therapy and therapy for opportunistic infection grows. We evaluated the evolution of drug costs for HIV-infected persons who attend a university clinic in Baltimore, Maryland. Cross-sectional abstracts of a cohort of patients for four periods, corresponding to landmark changes in therapy, who attended the clinic between June 1995 and September 1996 were obtained. Monthly medication costs for all patients were calculated. Mean costs increased significantly (p < .01) from period 1 ($447 U.S.) to period 4 ($1048 U.S.). Multivariate analysis only revealed higher costs for patients with a CD4+ count <200 cells/mm3 (p < .001). The proportion of costs attributable to antiretroviral therapy increased from 34% in period 1 to 53% in period 4. Combination therapy increased >10-fold, from 8% in period 1 to 94% in period 4. Protease inhibitor use also increased significantly, from 4% in period 2 to 53% in period 4. We quantified the increase in costs of medications from mid-1995 to late 1996. Increases in costs appear to be the result of increasing complexity of drug regimens, particularly antiretroviral therapy in combinations.
Keywords: *Ambulatory Care/ECONOMICS *Anti-HIV Agents/ECONOMICS *AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/DRUG THERAPY *Drug Costs *HIV Infections/DRUG THERAPYKWDambulatorycare/economicsKWDanti-hivagents/economicsKWDaids-relatedopportunisticinfections/drugtherapyKWDdrugcostsKWDhivinfections/drugtherapy
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