Today's Medical & Research News
Genital Wart
Reports summarize genital wart research from HealthCore, Inc.
November 7th, 2009
According to recent research published in the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion, "This study examined the incidence of and healthcare costs attributable to genital warts within a large US commercially insured, geographically dispersed population. and methods: Using a retrospective cohort study design, this longitudinal analysis assessed administrative claims of integrated medical and pharmacy encounters from five Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans." "Genital warts cases were identified using a methodology previously described by Insinga et al. Ageand gender-specific incidence of genital warts per 1000 person-years in 2004, and duration-of-episode attributable direct medical costs (2004 US dollars) and healthcare resource utilization of cases diagnosed in 2002. Overall outcome measures were ageand gender-adjusted to the 2004 US civilian population. Genital warts incidence in 2004 was 1.2/1000 females and 1.1/1000 males. Incidence was highest among females aged 20-24 (4.6/1000) and males aged 25-29 (2.7/1000). Projected overall incidence was over 340 000 cases in 2004. Mean duration-of-episode per incident case in 2002 was 95.4 days (males 116.3 days; females 69.7 days). Mean ambulatory visits per episode were 1.5 for females and 1.9 for males, with 51 drug prescription/episode. Mean costs were $647/episode ($745 males; $528 females). The 2004 estimated economic burden was $760 per 1000 individuals in the general population with the total exceeding $220 million. Limitations: Only those genital warts cases that sought evaluation or for which the treating provider was covered by the health plan were captured in the study. Genital warts represent a significant health and cost burden in the US," wrote T. Hoy and colleagues, HealthCore, Inc. The researchers concluded: "Adoption of novel healthcare technologies such as vaccines along with traditional interventions such as physician education of signs and symptoms, condom use and abstinence or limiting number of sexual partners may significantly help reduce the burden of genital warts." Hoy and colleagues published their study in Current Medical Research and Opinion (Assessing incidence and economic burden of genital warts with data from a US commercially insured population. Current Medical Research and Opinion, 2009;25(10):2343-2351). For additional information, contact T. Hoy, HealthCore Inc., Data Anal, 5th Floor, 800 Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, DE 19801, USA. The publisher's contact information for the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion is: Librapharm, Informa Healthcare, Telephone House, 69-77 Paul Street, London EC2A 4 Lq, England. Keywords: United States, Wilmington, Adolescent Medicine, Clinical Trial Research, Dermatology, Epidemiology, Gender Health, Gender Medicine, Genital Warts, Managed Care, Pharmaceuticals, Urology, Women's Health, HealthCore, Inc. This article was prepared by NewsRx editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, NewsRx.com.
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