Secondary health service care and second line drug costs of early inflammatory polyarthritis in Norfolk, UK

Objective. To estimate the secondary health service care and second line dr ug costs (including drug monitoring costs) for a cohort of people with earl y inflammatory polyarthritis (IP) and the subgroup classified as having rhe umatoid arthritis (RA) recruited to a population based register. Methods. The study population consisted of 344 people with IF who had enrol led on the Norfolk Arthritis Register (NOAR) in 1990-91, an average of 24 w eeks after onset of their symptoms. Utilizing resource use data from NOAR, augmented by unit cost data from other sources, the average (per person) an d cumulative secondary care and second line drug costs were estimated for Y ears 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 following registration with NOAR. Results. The total secondary health sm ice care and second line drug costs were pound 472,125 (pound 338,704 fur RA subgroup) (1990-91 prices) over th e 5 year study period, with inpatient stays, outpatient visits, and second line drugs accounting for 58, 9, and 33%, respectively. Nineteen percent of the study population neither visited hospital nor were prescribed second l ine drugs. Conclusion. Overall, inpatient stay costs represented the largest proportio n of secondary health service care and second line drug costs, making 21% o f the total study cohort responsible for 80% of the total 5 year costs incu rred.