Incidence of respiratory syncytial virus related health care utilization in the United States

Background Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is one of the most frequent causes of acute respiratory infection worldwide. Understanding age-specific health care utilization is necessary to guide effective prevention strategies. This retrospective database analysis assessed the incidence rates of RSV-related health care utilization in the USA over a 7-year period. Methods Episodes of RSV were identified in the Truven Health Market-Scan (R) Commercial Claims and Encounters database between 2008 and 2014 using ICD-9-CM codes for pneumonia, bronchiolitis and RSV (480-486, 487.0, 466.1, 491.2, 079.6). Annual RSV-related health care utilization was calculated for the total population, by age group (<1, 1, 2-4, 5-17, 18-49, 50-64, 65-74, 75-84 and >= 85 years) and the proportion of cases for each setting (hospitalization, outpatient, or emergency department [ED] / urgent care [UC]). Results: Over the 7-year study period, the mean rate of all RSV-associated health care utilization was 2.4 per 1000 person-years, with mean rates ranging from 2.0 to 2.6). The highest rate was seen in infants aged <1 year (mean 79.0 per 1000 over the 7-year period), which decreased with increasing age in the range 2-49 years before increasing with age in older adults (mean rate 8.1 per 1000 over the 7-year period in those >= 85 years). Of all RSV cases, 82% were reported in an outpatient setting, 11% in the ED/UC and 7% were hospitalized. Conclusions: The annual RSV-related healthcare utilization rates were substantial, especially in infants and young children. These results underscore the need to accelerate the development of RSV prevention strategies to reduce the healthcare burden of RSV.