Controlling Diabetes Saves Money
There has been little research on the short-term economic benefits of improving glycemic control in patients with NIDDM and therefore, insurance payers are not always willing to underwrite certain lifestyle enhancement programs because they don’t fully understand these benefits. Therefore, a 12-week study was done to determine the amount of money spent on patients given a standard diabetes treatment (5-20mg glipizide GITS [Glucotrol]) or no drug treatment (placebo). Factors such as employee retention, work productivity, absenteeism, bed days, restricted activity days, and frequency of physician visits were compared in these two groups of diabetic patients. 594 patients completed the study.
After 12 weeks, HbA1c and FBG levels were lower in patients treated with glipizide GITS (Gastrointestinal Therapeutic System) than placebo. Improved glycemic control with glipizide GITS [Glucotrol] was associated with higher retention of employed persons and greater productive capacity. Absenteeism increased among those persons only given placebo, but declined slightly for those who received diabetic drug therapy. Patients reporting 1/2 day of work or more per week in bed rose from 4% to 8.4% in the placebo group, but declined from 5.9% to 5.5% for those treated with glipizide GITS (Gastrointestinal Therapeutic System). Bed days and restricted activity days increased for placebo, and decreased for the treated patients.
These differences resulted in higher production losses for patients who were only treated with placebo compared to those given drug treatment. Improved glycemic control with drug therapy also produced a greater decrease in the rate of non-study-related physician visits for patients on glipizide GITS vs. placebo, yielding a direct savings of $11 per patient per month (assuming a cost of $66 per physician visit).
Therefore, improved glycemic control of NIDDM was clearly shown to enhance employment retention and work productivity, and reduced absenteeism, bed days, restricted activity days, and frequency of physician visits. These economic benefits should be considered when performing cost/benefit analyses of diabetes care.
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