Healthcare utilization by patients with primary hyperparathyroidism: What is the effect of kidney stone formation?

Introduction: Urolithiasis is a common complication of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Parathyroidectomy has been shown to decrease the rate of stone formation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate healthcare resource utilization before and after parathyroidectomy and identify predictors of increased healthcare utilization.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of patients who had a parathyroidectomy for PHPT in Nova Scotia from 2013-2018 was performed. Data from five years before parathyroidectomy to three years after were included. Outcomes included emergency department (ED) visits and the number of urologic interventions. Random-effects Poisson regression models were used to calculate the primary outcomes, ED visits, and the number of urologic interventions while adjusting for prespecified characteristics.

Results: Fifty patients (62% female) with a mean age of 60±11 years were identified. ED visits were 0.42 per year before parathyroidectomy and 0.20 per year after in a multivariate analysis (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 0.48, confidence interval [CI] 0.25-0.91, p=0.024). There was no statistical difference between male and female ED visits (p=0.6719). There was no difference in the rate of ED visits for non-urologic reasons after parathyroidectomy (p=0.0749). The incidence of urologic intervention for stones was 1.24 per year before parathyroidectomy and 0.53 per year after (IRR 0.42, CI 0.26-0.68, p=0.0005).

Conclusions: Healthcare resource utilization, in terms of ED visits and urologic intervention significantly decreased after parathyroidectomy. Sex showed no statistical difference in predicting healthcare utilization, while non-urologic ED visits remained the same after surgery. Expedited parathyroidectomy for PHPT patients may decrease urologic interventions and ED visits, resulting in less healthcare utilization.