Incidence and cost of CAP in a large working-age population

To estimate incidence rates and quantify excess medical and productivity cost of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in a commercially insured, working-age population.

Using the Thomson Reuters MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database, we estimated the annual incidence of CAP from 2003 through 2007 and evaluated its excess direct medical and productivity costs due to short-term disability and workplace absenteeism for adult patients aged 18 to 64 years. A cohort of CAP patients was 1:3 propensity score matched to a control cohort without pneumonia. Both excess direct medical costs and excess productivity costs were estimated in multivariate ordinary least squares (OLS) and generalized linear model (GLM) adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics.

A total of 402,831 patients with CAP and 1,208,231 matched controls were included. Overall annual CAP incidence was 4.89 cases per 1000 person-years. Excess annual medical cost of CAP ranged from $7220 by OLS to $11,443 by GLM. Inpatient costs, outpatient costs, and pharmacy costs explained 34%, 51%, and 15% of this excess cost of the GLM models, respectively. CAP patients had an additional productivity cost of $2391. Among adults younger than 65 years, these estimates imply an incidence of CAP of 950,000 annual cases at a cost of $10.6 billion (range: $9.04-$13.1), of which 80% are direct medical costs and 20% are productivity costs.

CAP is a frequent and costly event in a working-age population with a national cost of $10.6 billion. Interventions that could successfully prevent CAP could have a significant impact on healthcare costs and productivity.