Patterns of utilization and cost of healthcare services and pharmacotherapy among patients with drug-resistant epilepsy during the two-year period before neurostimulation: A descriptive analysis of the journey to implantation based on analyses of a large United States healthcare claims database

•About 30% of patients with DRE awaiting implantation have depression and/or anxiety.•Most (59%) patients with DRE are hospitalized within 2 years prior to implantation.•DRE patients average 20.2 physicians visits in the 2-year pre-implantation period.•42.7% of patients were dispensed at least five unique ASMs during pre-implantation.•Mean all-cause healthcare costs were $123,500, of which 75% were epilepsy-related.