Uterine fibroid treatment patterns in a population of insured women

Objective: To profile women treated for uterine leiomyomas who are covered by commercial insurance from large, self-insured employers in the United States. Design: Retrospective, observational study. Setting: Inpatient, outpatient, and prescription drug experience of women with employer-sponsored insurance in the United States. Patient(s): Data were obtained from the MarketScan insurance databases for 1999 through 2004 and weighted to represent the population of women with employer-sponsored health insurance in the United States. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): The proportion of women with clinically significant leiomyomas was determined in each year, based on inpatient and outpatient medical claims with diagnostic codes indicating leiomyoma. Patient characteristics, comorbidities, prescription drug treatments, and surgical interventions were profiled in 2004. Result(s): Approximately 1% of women had clinically significant leiomyomas. Comorbid genital or menstrual conditions were common and much more prevalent for women with leiomyomas. Of women with leiomyomas, 18.4% received no surgical or prescription drug treatment, whereas 16.8% received only surgical treatment, 22.4% received only prescription drug treatment, and 42.4% received both. Hysterectomy was the most common surgical treatment. Conclusion(s): Generalizing from this sample, we estimate that 443,445 women with employer-sponsored insurance in the United States had clinically significant leiomyomas in 2004.