Objective: This study characterises the comorbidities and symptoms, and treatment patterns of patients with Huntington’s disease (HD) vs patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) vs the general population (GP) excluding neurodegenerative diseases.

Background: Truven MarketScan has been previously used to explore healthcare utilisation and direct medical costs among HD patients by stages of disease progression. In contrast, this study focuses on comorbidities and drug class of commonly used medications. US claims data can offer valuable insights on the natural history of HD and provide information on standard practices used in a real-world setting.

Method: Patients were matched by age, gender, database type (Commercial/Medicaid) and enrolment in a database prior to the index date (1st January 2017). Diseases and medications selected for this study were related to HD and its symptoms, as well as psychiatric comorbidities, common diseases and commonly used medications. All comorbidities were reported by International Classification of Diseases Version 10 (ICD-10) sub-heading, and specific comorbidities and symptoms defined using ICD-10 codes. Medications were reported by therapeutic class and defined using national drug codes.

Results: A total of 587 patients with HD were matched to patients diagnosed with PD and GP controls (Table 1), of which 453 (77%) had at least one HD ICD-10 code recorded in 2017. Major depressive disorders and other anxiety disorders were the most frequently reported disease subheadings in patients with HD (30.8% and 32.7% respectively); incidences were also higher in patients with PD (22.3% and 29.3%) than in GP (8.9% and 16.2%) (Table 2). Patients with HD used antidepressants and antipsychotic therapies most (61.3% and 41.2% respectively), and at a higher frequency than in patients with PD (43.3% and 19.4%) and GP (25.4% and 8.5%) (Table 3). [Table 1] [Table 2] [Table 3]

Conclusion: This study provides insights into the most common comorbidities of, and drug classes used by, patients with HD, compared with PD and GP. The results indicate that major depressive disorders and anxiety disorders are common to both HD and PD relative to the GP. Antidepressants and antipsychotics are commonly used in HD. Further studies exploring specific comorbidities and their relationship to medication use in these patient populations are ongoing.

References: Divino V, et al. J Med Econ. 2013; 16:1043–1050. Anderson KE, et al. J Huntingtons Dis. 2014; 3:355–363.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/comorbidities-and-medications-in-huntingtons-disease-parkinsons-disease-and-the-general-population-in-a-us-claims-database/