Work Limitations and Productivity Loss Are Associated with Health-Related Quality of Life but Not with Clinical Severity in Patients with Psoriasis

Abstract

Background: According to current guidelines the cost of productivity loss should be considered in pharmacoeconomic analyses. The cost of health-related productivity loss in psoriasis patients is unknown. Objective: To estimate the cost of productivity loss in psoriasis and its association with health-related quality of life and clinical disease severity. Methods: Cross-sectional study, recruitment of adult participants through Internet advertisements. 201 (72.3%) out of 278 eligible participants completed the study. Health-related work productivity loss, quality of life and clinical severity of psoriasis were assessed by standardized instruments. Results: Indirect costs of productivity loss clearly exceed the total direct cost. In contrast to objective clinical disease severity, health-related quality of life (measured by the Dermatology Life Quality Index) is an independent predictor of work productivity. Conclusions: There is good reason to believe that intervention can reduce health-related productivity loss by improving patients’ quality of life. Savings from increased work productivity might offset comparatively high acquisition costs of biological agents.

Recent Trends in Systemic Psoriasis Treatment Costs

“…29 Additional costs include those of laboratory monitoring, office visits, procedures such as a liver biopsy, and costs related to complications of emergency department visits and hospitalizations. 11,30 For example, despite the low cost of methotrexate relative to other psoriasis therapies, frequent office visits and laboratory tests, as well as recommended periodic liver biopsies, increase the annual cost somewhat.…”

“…Also referred to as "forgotten costs" or "lost opportunity costs," indirect costs include time away from work, transportation costs, and time spent in personal care. 29 The decreasing use of phototherapy, despite its low direct cost and favorable safety profile, has been partially attributed to the lost work productivity and incon- venience associated with treatment. 5 Simpson and colleagues 5 propose that decreasing physician reimbursement rates and high out-of-pocket expenses for patients, owing to copayments with every treatment, place disincentives on phototherapy use.…”

Przegląd narzędzi badawczych do oceny wydajności pracy pielęgniarek

“…The instrument is used for evaluation of individual occupational groups, including nurses [13], employees of factories [14], as well as for the assessment of person's ill with chronic diseases, including depression [15], arthritis [15], cardiovascular diseases [16], asthma [16], cancerous diseases [17], skin diseases [18], and diseases of the musculoskeletal system [15]. More than 30 language versions are available [12].…”

Psoriasis: Ustekinumab and Other Biologics in the Pipeline

“…Although the spectrum of psoriasis treatment options has substantially increased and diversified, the average annual incremental indirect and direct costs is $1500 per psoriasis patient per year [93]. Strikingly, a recent analysis of the costs of work loss and productivity, which are determinants of indirect costs, for psoriasis patients was estimated at $8.6 and $9.9 billion a year, respectively [94]. This calculation is a product of a multitude of factors, one of which may include those patients with inadequate treatment response, thereby making drug development and research an important factor to successful management of this chronic, debilitating condition.…”