Histoplasmosis-related healthcare use, diagnosis, and treatment in a commercially insured population, United States
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Histoplasmosis-related healthcare use, diagnosis, and treatment in a commercially insured population, United States

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  • English
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    Details:

    • Alternative Title:
      Clin Infect Dis
    • Personal Author:
    • Description:
      Background:

      Infections with Histoplasma can range from asymptomatic to life-threatening acute pulmonary or disseminated disease. Histoplasmosis can be challenging to diagnose and is widely under-recognized. We analyzed insurance claims data to better characterize histoplasmosis testing and treatment practices and its burden on patients.

      Methods:

      We used the IBM® MarketScan® Research Databases to identify patients with histoplasmosis (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] codes 115.00–115.99) during 2012–2014. We analyzed claims in the 3 months before to the 1 year after diagnosis and examined differences between probable (hospitalized or >1 outpatient visit) and suspect (1 outpatient visit) patients.

      Results:

      Among 1,935 patients (943 probable, 922 suspect), 54% had codes for symptoms or findings consistent with histoplasmosis and 35% had ≥2 healthcare visits in the 3 months before diagnosis. Overall, 646 (33%) had any fungal-specific laboratory test: histoplasmosis antibody test (n= 349, 18%), Histoplasma antigen test (n=349, 18%), fungal smear (n=294, 15%), or fungal culture (n=223, 12%); 464 (24%) had a biopsy. Forty-nine percent of probable patients and 10% of suspect patients were prescribed antifungal medication in the outpatient setting. Total, 19% were hospitalized. Patients’ last histoplasmosis-associated healthcare visits occurred a median of 6 months after diagnosis.

      Conclusions:

      Some histoplasmosis patients experienced severe disease, apparent diagnostic delays, and prolonged illness, whereas other patients lacked symptoms and were likely diagnosed incidentally (e.g., via biopsy). Low rates of histoplasmosis-specific testing also suggest incidental diagnoses and low provider suspicion, highlighting the need for improved awareness about this disease.

    • Subjects:
    • Source:
      Clin Infect Dis. 70(6):1003-1010
    • Pubmed ID:
      31037290
    • Pubmed Central ID:
      PMC6821563
    • Document Type:
      Journal Article
    • Funding:
      CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
    • Collection(s):
    • Main Document Checksum:
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