Glaucoma costs in Denmark in treatment naive patients

Purpose: To describe the costs and providers of glaucoma treatment in Denmark. Methods: Analyses were based on National Register data. Glaucoma/OHT patients were identified by their first prescription for glaucoma medication (ATC-codes) in the Danish Register of Medicinal Product Statistics 2002-2007. Patients had used no glaucoma medication for 6 months. Data for 2007 were sampled cross-sectionally for a budgetary analysis of glaucoma (ICD10 code) medication and services consumed in the primary and secondary health care services. Patients were categorized according to their number of treatment changes. Results: The Danish annual incidence rate of glaucoma was estimated at 1.2 per 1000 adult persons. Thirty-seven per cent of patients (men 44%, mean age 68 years; women 56%, mean age 71 years) persisted with their initial treatment regimen, 21% had changed to a second regimen, and 43% had experienced ≥3 regimens. Treatment costs increased with the number of sequential regimens. Annual glaucoma costs (health care sector perspective) were €305 for patients under their initial regimen, increasing to €740 with ≥3 regimens. Drug costs accounted for 57% of total cost. Conclusions: Drugs represented the major cost of glaucoma, and those costs increased, obviously, with the number of treatment changes.