Analysis of drug utilization and direct medical costs among patients with knee osteoarthritis with and without recorded hyaluronic acid use at Thong Nhat Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

Trần Thị Phương Mai 1, 2 , Dương Thị Hồng Đoan 1 , Trần Thị Hồng Nguyên 1, 2 , Phạm Thị Thu Hiền 1, 2 , Nguyễn Thị Hải Yến 1 ,
1 University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City image/svg+xml
2 Thong Nhat Hospital image/svg+xml
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DOI
10.63947/bvtn.v2i9.12
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Published
2026-10-01
Issue Vol. 2 No. 9 (2026): A Major Step Forward in Specialized Care: A Milestone Marked by the First Liver Transplant at Thong Nhat Hospital
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Original Research

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Trần TPM, Dương THĐ, Trần THN, Phạm TTH, Nguyễn THY. Analysis of drug utilization and direct medical costs among patients with knee osteoarthritis with and without recorded hyaluronic acid use at Thong Nhat Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. JHA [Internet]. Vietnam; 2026 Oct. 1 [cited 2026 Oct. 16];2(9):89–97. https://tcsuckhoelaohoa.vn/bvtn/article/view/232 doi: 10.63947/bvtn.v2i9.12
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Abstract

Intra-articular hyaluronic acid (HA) is used to treat knee osteoarthritis; however, data on medication utilization patterns and healthcare costs in Vietnam remain limited. This retrospective observational study analyzed electronic medical records, medication utilization data, and billing records of patients with knee osteoarthritis with and without recorded HA use at Thong Nhat Hospital during 2024–2025. Among 25,575 patients with an ICD-10 M17.x diagnosis, 894 (3.5%) were classified into the HA group and 24,681 into the non-HA group. Patients in the HA group were older on average (65.7 vs. 61.0 years) and more likely to be female (77.9% vs. 63.0%). Compared with the non-HA group, the HA group had lower proportions of visits involving NSAIDs (45.0% vs. 57.5%) and analgesics (24.5% vs. 31.7%), but a higher proportion involving symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOAs) (29.5% vs. 26.3%). In the primary analysis restricted to patients with at least 30 days of available observation (n=25,365), the median annualized direct medical cost was VND 13.23 million per person-year [8.07–24.11] in the HA group and VND 1.86 million per person-year [0.88–3.79] in the non-HA group (p<0.001). After adjustment, annualized costs were higher in the HA group than in the non-HA group (adjusted cost ratio: 4.833; 95% CI: 4.019–5.874; p<0.001). These findings reflect differences in medication utilization patterns and costs between the two groups in routine hospital practice.

Keywords

knee osteoarthritis hyaluronic acid medication utilization direct medical costs real-world data

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