Identifying Patients with Group 3 Pulmonary Hypertension Associated with COPD or ILD Using an Administrative Claims...

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Health Informatics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Group 3 pulmonary hypertension (PH) encompasses patients with PH due to chronic lung disease, notably chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease (ILD).
• Claims databases offer insights into real-world treatment and outcomes for these PH patients but lack detailed clinical data for precise subtype identification.
• Accurate identification of Group 3 PH patients within claims data is crucial for understanding disease burden and treatment patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and recommend methodologies for identifying patients with Group 3 PH associated with COPD or ILD using retrospective claims databases.
• To establish a foundation for future validation studies on Group 3 PH patient identification.

Main Methods:

• Convened a panel of PH clinical experts and researchers to discuss identification methodologies.
• Conducted a literature review of claims-based studies on Group 3 PH associated with COPD or ILD (2010-2020).
• Synthesized insights from the panel and literature review to detail identification components.

Main Results:

• Identified 11 claims-based studies and 2 conference abstracts meeting search criteria.
• Detailed four key components for identifying Group 3 PH associated with COPD/ILD: (a) COPD/ILD identification, (b) PH identification, (c) temporal sequencing, and (d) exclusions.
• Highlighted the need for specific criteria to accurately define this patient subgroup.

Conclusions:

• Recommended approaches and considerations for identifying Group 3 PH patients with COPD or ILD in administrative claims data.
• Emphasized the importance of these methods for future research and validation studies.
• Provided a framework for improving the analysis of this specific PH population in real-world data.