Epidemiology and economic burden of conjunctivitis: A managed care perspective
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abstract
Conjunctivitis is a common condition of the eye that occurs worldwide and affects all ages and social strata, affecting more than 2 percent of the population. It is caused by a variety of bacterial or viral pathogens but may also be caused by allergies, irritants or medications. Most types are self-limiting, but some may progress and cause serious complications. Health care providers have low clinical accuracy at differentiating the various etiologies of acute conjunctivitis. In this paper we review the epidemiology and economic burden of conjunctivitis. The main methods are a comprehensive review of the literature supplemented by analysis of medical claims data. A health plan with one million covered lives will see approximately 22,000 cases of conjunctivitis each year. At an average cost of $218 per case, the same plan will spend close to $5 million to treat those cases. Extrapolated to the national population of the commercially insured, these costs sum to nearly $800 million per year in the U.S. This is an underestimate of the total societal costs, which include the indirect costs associated with work loss days, school loss days, the costs of disease spread associated with inaccurate diagnosis, and the costs of antibiotic resistance. Improvements in the accuracy and timeliness of the diagnosis may improve the management and treatment of acute conjunctivitis and result in an overall reduction in prescription drug costs, the number of follow-up visits, and the spread of disease.
