Evaluation of risk adjustment performance of diagnosis-based and medication-based comorbidity indices in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed risk adjustment performance of six comorbidity indices in two categories of comorbidity measures: diagnosis-based comorbidity indices and medication-based ones in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: This was a population–based retrospective cohort study. Data used in this study were sourced from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The study population comprised all patients who were hospitalized due to COPD for the first time in the target year of 2012. Each qualified patient was individually followed for one year starting from the index date to assess two outcomes of interest, medical expenditures within one year after discharge and in-hospital mortality of patients. To assess how well the added comorbidity measures would improve the fitted model, we calculated the log-likelihood ratio statistic G(2). Subsequently, we compared risk adjustment performance of the comorbidity indices by using the Harrell c-statistic measure derived from multiple logistic regression models. RESULTS: Analytical results demonstrated that that comorbidity measures were significant predictors of medical expenditures and mortality of COPD patients. Specifically, in the category of diagnosis-based comorbidity indices the Elixhauser index was superior to other indices, while the RxRisk-V index was a stronger predictor in the framework of medication-based codes, for gauging both medical expenditures and in-hospital mortality by utilizing information from the index hospitalization only as well as the index and prior hospitalizations. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, this work has ascertained that comorbidity indices are significant predictors of medical expenditures and mortality of COPD patients. Based on the study findings, we propose that when designing the payment schemes for patients with chronic diseases, the health authority should make adjustments in accordance with the burden of health care caused by comorbid conditions.