Work absenteeism and disability associated with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis in the USA—a retrospective study of claims data from 2009 TO 2020

Abstract

Objectives To compare work absenteeism and short-term disability among adults with psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis (PsA), versus controls in the USA. Methods Adults eligible for work absenteeism and/or short-term disability benefits between 1/1/2009 and 4/30/2020 were screened in the IBM® MarketScan® Commercial and Health and Productivity Management Databases. The following groups were defined: (1) psoriasis: ≥ 2 psoriasis diagnoses ≥ 30 days apart and no PsA diagnoses; (2) PsA: ≥ 2 PsA diagnoses ≥ 30 days apart; (3) control: absence of psoriasis and PsA diagnoses. Controls were matched to psoriasis and PsA patients based on age, gender, index year, and comorbidities. Non-recreational work absences and sick leaves were evaluated in absentee-eligible patients, and short-term disability was evaluated in short-term disability-eligible patients. Costs (in 2019 USD) associated with each type of work absence were evaluated. Results 4261 psoriasis and 616 PsA absentee-eligible and 25,213 psoriasis and 3480 PsA short-term disability-eligible patients were matched to controls. Average non-recreational work absence costs were $1681, $1657, and $1217 for the PsA, psoriasis, and control group, respectively. Compared with psoriasis patients and controls, more PsA patients had sick leaves after 1 year (56.2% versus 55.6% and 41.5%, p < 0.0001). Similarly, short-term disability was more frequent in PsA patients than psoriasis patients and controls at year one (8.8% versus 5.6% and 4.7%, p < 0.0001) and corresponding costs were higher ($605, $406, and $335 on average, p < 0.0001). Conclusion Annual work absenteeism and short-term disability were consistently greater among patients with PsA and psoriasis than controls, highlighting the substantial economic burden of psoriatic disease. Key points• Patients with PsA had greater short-term disability compared with patients with psoriasis and patients with neither psoriasis nor PsA.• Patients with PsA and patients with psoriasis incurred greater non-recreational work absences and sick leaves than patients with neither psoriasis nor PsA.

Achievement of more stringent disease control is associated with reduced burden on workplace and household productivity: results from long-term certolizumab pegol treatment in patients with psoriatic arthritis

“…Previous studies have measured the impact of PsA disease activity on patient productivity, 2,5–13 but a more developed understanding of treatment strategies and work absenteeism was needed. 29 Kavanaugh et al 18 showed a short-term, 24-week association between treating patients with PsA and improvements in productivity; this present study expanded on that work and found this improvement was sustained up to 4 years.…”

“…This study helps with understanding how treatment strategies can improve productivity, which is needed not only from a clinical perspective, but also from an economic perspective. 29 Economic modelling of the disease impact of PsA has quantified the indirect cost of reduced patient productivity in the workplace and the household, 5,6,9,[14][15][16] and reported that a greater disease activity and lower utility is correlated with greater indirect costs. 41 Future economic modelling should consider improvements in productivity to develop an understanding of the indirect economic gain of achieving and maintaining greater levels of disease control with long-term therapy in this patient population.…”

Systematic Literature Review of the Use of Productivity Losses/Gains in Cost-Effectiveness Analyses of Immune-Mediated Disorders

“…In almost one-third of cases, the consideration of productivity losses could have altered the final decision on whether to reimburse expensive drugs. This finding is unsurprising, given that a new drug in diseases such as psoriasis, arthritis or Crohn’s disease is likely being appraised owing to its considerable effectiveness and ability to alleviate the symptom burden, thus also reducing the amount of work loss seen with these disorders [ 46 – 48 ].…”

At-home blood self-sampling in rheumatology: a qualitative study with patients and health care professionals

“…Rising global burden of systemic rheumatic diseases (SRDs) manifests itself in mortality, disability-adjusted life expectancy [ 1 ], reduced quality of life [ 2 ] as well as direct and indirect health care costs, including absence from work and productivity [ 3 , 4 ]. The high demand of rheumatology care is opposed by an inadequate number of rheumatologists [ 5 ], resulting in diagnostic delays [ 6 ] and often consecutive irreversible damage [ 7 ].…”