The effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment of panic disorder on emergency room and laboratory resource utilization.
BACKGROUND
While it has been well documented that patients with untreated panic disorder frequently utilize emergency room (ER) and laboratory services, no published data evaluate whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment of patients with panic disorder is associated with decreased use of these services in the managed care organization setting.


METHODS
A medical and pharmacy claims database representing individuals from several managed care organizations was used to analyze ER and laboratory resource utilization and cost for 120 patients with panic disorder (ICD-9-CM criteria) who received SSRI treatment.


RESULTS
SSRI treatment was associated with a reduction in the mean number of ER and laboratory visits and costs in the 6-month period following therapy initiation compared with the 6-month period prior to therapy initiation (sertraline: visits, -79.5%; costs, -85.2%; p < .05; fluoxetine: visits, -25.0%; costs, -69.5%; p = NS; and paroxetine: visits, -8.6%; costs, -30.8%; p = NS).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the current study suggest that appropriate treatment of panic disorder may decrease unnecessary resource utilization for the medical symptoms associated with panic disorder.
Roy-Byrne
P P
PP
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Universite of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA.
Clary
C M
CM
Miceli
R J
RJ
Colucci
S V
SV
Xu
Y
Y
Grudzinski
A N
AN
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D017046:Cost Savings / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016527:Drug Costs; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007753:Laboratories / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020280:Sertraline / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use
D005473:Fluoxetine; D017374:Paroxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D020280:Sertraline