Commercial Claims Costs Related to Healthcare Resource Use Associated With a Diagnosis of Peanut Allergy

Background Peanut allergy (PA) affects ∼1.6 million US children. The current standard of care is strict avoidance and prompt reaction treatment. PA healthcare costs and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) are poorly understood. Objective To estimate PA healthcare costs and HCRU using a nationally representative commercial payer database. Methods The IBM MarketScan ® Commercial Claims and Encounters Database was examined for PA diagnosis/reaction codes between January 2011 and October 2015 in patients ≤64 years, with age cohort–matched controls. Outcomes were measured 12 months before and after the first claim date. Healthcare costs and HCRU were compared using Student’s t-tests and chi-square tests. Results Patients with a PA-related diagnostic code (n=41,675) incurred almost double all-cause healthcare costs versus controls ($6436 vs $3493, P Conclusion National commercial payer claims data indicate a significant healthcare burden associated with a PA-related code, including over $6400/patient in annual allcause costs and increased healthcare utilization.