AIDS TREATMENT COSTS DURING THE LAST MONTHS OF LIFE - EVIDENCE FROM THE ACSUS

Objective. The volume and cost of services consumed by persons with AI DS (PWAs) during their last months of life are examined in this study. Data Sources. This study utilizes data from the AIDS Costs and Servic e Utilization Survey (ACSUS). The ACSUS is the most comprehensive surv ey of medical services that are consumed by persons with HIV. Study De sign. This study is restricted to persons with AIDS who survived the f ifth time period (an approximately three-month period in the early spr ing and summer of 1992). The types and costs of services consumed duri ng the fifth time period by PWAs who did survive (609) and who did not survive (79) the sixth time period are compared. Data Collection. The ACSUS consists of six interviews over an 18-month period from Spring 1991 to Fall 1992. Principal Findings. Decedents were hospitalized mor e than four times as many days and experienced more than four times th e number of home health visits as survivors. Both the average length o f stay (19.3 days for decedents and 10.3 for survivors) and the freque ncy of hospitalization during the fifth time period (.70 for decedents and .28 for survivors) were higher for decedents than survivors. The levels of outpatient care (including emergency room care) and of presc ription drug use were similar for decedents and survivors. Conclusions . This study shows that the cost of treating decedents is more than th ree times the cost of treating survivors.