Healthcare resource utilization associated with ivacaftor use in patients with cystic fibrosis

AbstractObjective: Ivacaftor was approved in 2012 to treat patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) with specific CFTR gene mutations. The objective of this analysis was to analyze the impact of ivacaftor on health resource utilization through analysis of claims data.Methods: Patients diagnosed with CF aged ≥6 years prescribed ivacaftor between January 1, 2012 and July 31, 2014 with ≥12 months of continuous insurance coverage prior to and following the prescription were identified. All-cause and CF-specific healthcare resource utilization during the pre- and post-prescription periods and ivacaftor adherence levels were studied.Results: The 79 identified patients had a mean age of 20.8 years, and 54% were female. The proportion of patients with inpatient admissions (all-cause and CF-related) was significantly higher in the pre index compared to post index period (p ≤ 0.05). Mean ivacaftor medication possession ratio was 0.8 (SD = 0.3), and 73% of patients had a medication possession ratio >0.80.Limitations: Only...