PURPOSE: To assess the direct and indirect costs of infectious conjunctivitis and quantify medical costs due to conjunctivitis transmission in families.
METHODS: In this retrospective claims analysis from the OptumHealth Care Solutions, Inc. database (1998-2016), beneficiaries with or without at least one diagnosis of infectious conjunctivitis were identified. Direct and indirect costs (in 2016 US)duringthe60dayspostconjunctivitisdiagnosis(orimputeddateforcontrols)werecomparedusingcostdifferencesinlinearregressions.Fortransmissioncostanalysis,thetotalcostofeachconjunctivitisepisodewasthesumoftheprimaryepisode(seedpatient)andthesecondaryepisode(infectedfamilymembers)costs.Ageneralizedestimatingequationmodeladjustedforseedpatientcharacteristicswasusedtoassesstheimpactofnumberandrateoftransmissionsonepisodecost.RESULTS:Healthcareresourceutilizationanddirectcostsweresignificantlyhigherforpatientswithconjunctivitis(n=1,002,188)versuscontrols(n=4,877,210):1.67all−causevisitsperpersonpermonth(PPPM)versus0.79visitsPPPM,respectively;totalmeandirectcostof396.04 PPPM versus 289.63PPPM,respectively.Thecostofmedicallyrelatedabsenteeismwas105.42 (95% confidence interval [CI], 104.18−106.75) higher for patients with conjunctivitis than for controls. Episode cost, without transmission due to seed patient, was 669.43(95654.67-$684.85); it increased with each additional infected family member and with increased infection transmission time between family members.
CONCLUSION: Conjunctivitis was associated with a notable economic burden in terms of direct medical costs and medically related absenteeism. Family health care costs increased with transmission time and with each family member infected with conjunctivitis