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Majority of estimated economic burden of psoriasis in US a result of indirect costs

Researchers calculated an annual estimated economic burden of psoriasis in the United States of $35.2 billion in 2013, with the majority resulting from indirect costs including reduced quality of life and productivity loss, according to recently published study results.

Mark Lebwohl, MD, Sol and Clara Kest Professor of Dermatology and Chair of the Kimberly and Eric J. Waldman Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and colleagues performed a systematic literature review of peer-reviewed articles published between 2003 and June 2013 examining economic, clinical and/or social burden of psoriasis in the United States.

Mark Lebwohl

The 2013 psoriasis population was estimated using prevalence estimates, and studies comparing psoriasis patients and controls were used to calculate incremental medical costs. Presenteeism, absenteeism and unemployment measures were used to estimate productivity loss, and survey responses were used to measure reductions in health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Ninety-one articles from 3,692 unique titles collected in the literature search were included in the study. The researchers estimated there were 5.3 million people with psoriasis in the United States in 2013, with 83.3% having a mild form of the disease. Estimated per-patient economic burden for 2013 was $6,579, including $2,284 incurred from incremental medical costs, $2,203 due to a reduction in HRQoL and $2,092 for lost productivity.

The total estimated annual burden of psoriasis in the U.S. in 2013 was $35.2 billion, which included $12.2 billion (35%) from medical costs and $23 billion (65%) from indirect costs. Among the indirect costs were $11.8 billion incurred from reduced HRQoL and $11.2 billion from productivity losses.

"The real costs of psoriasis are reflected not only in incremental medical costs (in large part due to the exorbitant cost of drugs), but also in the costs attributable to reduced quality of life and reduced productivity in the workplace because of this condition," Lebwohl told Healio.com/Dermatology. – by Bruce Thiel

Disclosures: Vanderpuye-Orgle reports she is an employee of Precision Health Economics, which was compensated by Novartis to perform the study. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.