Economic Burden of Psoriasis and Potential Cost Offsets with Biologic Treatment: A Swedish Register Analysis

Abstract

Estimates of direct and indirect costs of psoriasis are limited. The aim of this study was to estimate: (i) costs in patients with psoriasis compared with controls; and (ii) impact on costs from initiating biologics. The study extracted data from Swedish administrative registers and compared 31,043 patients with 111,645 sex-, age- and residency-matched referents. Mean direct and indirect costs were estimated as US dollars (USD) 1,365 (62%) and USD 3,319 (50%) higher in patients compared with referents, respectively. The study included 352 patients treated with biologics who had at least 1-year follow-up before and after initiation of biologics. Among the 193 patients persistent with biologics for one year, 1-year costs of biologics were estimated at USD 23,293 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 22,372-24,199). This cost was partially offset, with savings in direct cost estimated to range from USD -1135 (95% CI -2,050 to -328) to USD -4,422 (95% CI -6,552 to -2,771), depending on assumptions. The corresponding estimates for indirect costs savings were from USD -774 (95% CI -2,019-535) to USD -1,875 (95% CI -3,650 to -188). The study suggests that psoriasis is associated with substantial costs, which may be modifiable with treatment.

Obesity, Waist Circumference, Weight Change, and Risk of Incident Psoriasis: Prospective Data from the HUNT Study

“…Psoriasis may have major impact on everyday life, and there is evidence that individuals with psoriasis may die at younger ages (Abuabara et al, 2010;Gelfand et al, 2007;Stern et al, 2004). The Global Burden of Disease Study (Murray et al, 2015) reported that psoriasis made up a substantial part (0.19%) of the total global disability-adjusted life-years, and yearly costs due to treatment and loss of work are high (Feldman et al, 2014;Svedbom et al, 2016).…”

Cryptotanshinone reduces psoriatic epidermal hyperplasia via inhibiting the activation of STAT3

“…Psoriasis, which is a chronic, inflammatory skin disorder, widely affects up to 2%‐4% of the world's population and severely impairs patient quality of life . The psoriasis skin lesions are characterized by hyperproliferation and aberrant differentiation of keratinocytes and infiltration of inflammatory cells into the dermis and epidermis …”

“…Psoriasis, which is a chronic, inflammatory skin disorder, widely affects up to 2%-4% of the world's population [1] and severely impairs patient quality of life. [2][3][4] The psoriasis skin lesions are characterized by hyperproliferation and aberrant differentiation of keratinocytes and infiltration of inflammatory cells into the dermis and epidermis. [5] Although the pathogenesis of psoriasis is unclear, epidermal hyperplasia is found to be mediated by psoriasis-associated genes and the signalling pathways, such as the IL-23/Th17 axis, [6,7] the signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT) signalling pathway [8,9] and the NF-ΚB signalling pathway.…”

Biologicals and small molecules in psoriasis: A systematic review of economic evaluations

“…A recent Swedish study showed increased direct cost (+1,365 USD) and indirect costs (+ 3,319 USD) per patient with psoriasis per year, compared with the general population. If treated with biologicals, the high direct cost of medication (+ 23,293 USD per patient per year) was only partially offset by savings in indirect costs [ 10 ].…”