Journal of occupational and environmental medicine
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J. Occup. Environ. Med. · Sep 2008
Direct and indirect costs of pain therapy for osteoarthritis in an insured population in the United States.
To assess the health care utilization and cost of illness for osteoarthritis (OA) patients taking pain medications. Specifically, the goals were to estimate the direct health care and indirect costs of OA. ⋯ There was a substantial payer burden associated with OA resulting from the drug, medical, and disability costs and OA-related comorbidities and high concomitant medication utilization.