title: The impact of psoriasis on health care costs and patient work loss.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are few comprehensive estimates of the cost of psoriasis in the United States.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to quantify the incremental direct medical and indirect work loss costs associated with psoriasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A de-identified claims database from 31 self-insured employers during the period 1998 to 2005 was used. Patients with at least two psoriasis diagnosis claims (N = 12,280) were compared with 3 control subjects (matched on year of birth and sex) without psoriasis. Multivariate two-part regression analysis was used to isolate the incremental cost of psoriasis by controlling for comorbidities and other confounding factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After multivariate adjustment, the incremental direct and indirect costs of psoriasis were approximately $900 and $600 (P < .001) per patient per year, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The database used in this study does not contain information on patient out-of-pocket costs or loss of productivity costs at work.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incremental cost of psoriasis is approximately $1500 per patient per year, with work loss costs accounting for 40% of the cost burden.
authors.affiliation: University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.forename: Mei Sheng
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Duh
authors.forename: Ludmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rovba
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buteau
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: Andrine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Swensen
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Mallett
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kosicki
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies