Characteristics of patients initiating raloxifene compared to those initiating bisphosphonates

BMC Women's Health

Table 2 Pre-period clinical characteristics (Commercial/Medicare, and Medicaid)

	Commercial/Medicare		Medicaid
	Raloxifene	Bisphosphonates	Raloxifene	Bisphosphonates
	(N = 17,983)	(N = 79,891)	(N = 11,504)	(N = 59,881)
Health status	Mean (STD)	Mean (STD)	Mean (STD)	Mean (STD)
CCI	0.5(1.1)*	0.7 (1.4)	0.9 (1.5)*	1.1 (1.6)
	%	%	%	%
Any fracture	10.0*	14.6	9.4*	14.2
Hip	0.4*	1.3	0.6*	1.3
Vertebral	1.4*	2.6	1.5*	2.4
Non-vertebral	9.2*	13.3	8.5*	12.7
Screening
BMD test	43.2*	63.8	20.9*	27.6
Mammogram	8.4*	10.6	8.7	9.2
Confounding conditions
Breast cancer	3.5*	5.5	6.0*	6.9
Endocrine disease	13.9	13.8	20.3	20.8
HIV	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1
Liver disease	1.9	1.9	3.6	3.2
Bone cancer	0.0††	0.1	0.0	0.0
Other cancer	20.1	21.5	10.3	10.6
Alcoholism	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Osteodystrophy	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1
Nephritis	0.8*	1.1	1.9†	2.4
Rheumatoid arthritis	1.5*	2.7	2.4*	3.7
Any cardiovascular disease	5.9*	8.1	13.1	13.1
Thyroid disease	11.5*	12.6	8.3	7.9
Metabolic disorders	30.9†	29.7	25.5*	23.4
Osteoporosis	2.9*	6.9	5.3*	8.0
DVT/PE	0.0*	0.1	0.2†	0.4
Gastric ulcer	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.3
Peptic ulcer	0.1	0.0	0.6	0.5
Dysphagia	0.2	0.3	0.6	0.6
Gastroesophageal reflux	0.9	1.0	2.4	2.1
Gastritis	0.3	0.4	2.9*	2.2
Medications
Glucocorticoids	13.4*	16.4	13.3*	16.6
Estrogen/HRT	38.4*	27.9	21.9*	13.7
Hormone deprivation therapy	1.2*	2.9	0.7*	1.6
Anticonvulsants	2.4*	3.1	5.4	5.8
Immunosuppressants	1.4*	2.6	1.1*	2.2
Resource utilization	Mean (STD)	Mean (STD)	Mean (STD)	Mean (STD)
Inpatient claims	0.1 (0.4)*	0.2 (0.5)	0.1 (0.5)*	0.1 (0.6)
ER claims	0.5 (2.0)*	0.6 (2.5)	2.1 (7.1)*	2.4 (8.4)
Outpatient claims	31.1 (32.7)*	36.4 (41.9)	49.0 (65.6)*	51.7 (70.3)
Rx claims	24.5 (24.9)*	26.2 (27.0)	46.9 (40.8)	49.9 (40.6)

Comparisons of raloxifene to bisphosphonates are statistically significant at: *p < 0.0001; †p < 0.001; †† p < 0.01

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