Health Care Costs Higher First Year After Myasthenia Gravis Diagnosis

Patients with newly diagnosed myasthenia gravis (MG) more frequently used health care resources, leading to higher health care expenditures during the first year after diagnosis compared with the second year. These are the findings of a study presented at the 2023 American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) Annual Meeting, held from November 1 to 4 in Phoenix, Arizona.

MG is a rare, autoimmune disease characterized by muscle weakness and fatigue that is caused by disrupted communication between motor neurons and muscle fibers at the neuromuscular junction. Symptoms tend to be the most severe and progressive during the first few years after diagnosis. Therefore, gaining adequate control of disease symptoms to prevent further deterioration or progression is a critical goal for initial MG treatments that are provided during the first few years.

An international team of researchers conducted a retrospective, nationwide, population-based study, collecting relevant patient data from 4 Swedish registries on 554 patients (45.7% women; average age, 62) with primary MG diagnosis codes documented at least twice within 12 or more months apart. A neurologist was required to have recorded at least 1 of these documentations that pertained to a diagnosis of MG between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2017. Participants were followed-up for at least 24 months or longer.

During the first year after diagnosis, individuals with MG demonstrated significantly higher rates of corticosteroid use (60% vs 48%), increased MG-related hospitalization rates (62.5% vs 15.9%), increased all-cause hospitalization rates (70.9% vs 34.7%), and increased rate of thymectomy procedures (12.1% vs 2.7%) compared to the second year after diagnosis (all P <.01).

Correspondingly, compared with the second year, the first year following MG diagnosis included higher health care costs due to increased health care resource use. The difference in health care costs between the first and second years totaled €7,294 (approximately $7,701 US dollars) for all causes and €6629 (approximately $7,000 US dollars) for MG-related causes (both P <.01).

“More treatments and/or surgeries are performed in the first year after diagnosis than later in the disease course, leading to higher costs immediately after diagnosis,” the researchers concluded. “Findings highlight the need for use of more efficacious treatments early in the disease course.”

Disclosures: Several study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see original source for full list of disclosures.