title: Resource use and costs in an insured population of patients with chronic idiopathic/spontaneous urticaria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic idiopathic or spontaneous urticaria (CIU/CSU) impairs patients' quality of life, and updated information on disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and disease burden is lacking.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to estimate these figures in a large US real-world claims database via a validated algorithm.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this retrospective cross-sectional cohort study, we identified patients with CIU/CSU, estimated disease prevalence, comorbidities, and healthcare use (medications, office visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations) and costs (urticaria related and all cause).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 6350 CIU/CSU patients in a population of just over 5.8 million: 0.11 % prevalence. Women accounted for the majority of sufferers (68.3 %) and had a greater burden of illness than men. Patients had relatively few comorbidities (mean 3.3, standard deviation 2.2). Primary care physicians and allergists were the most common providers of CIU/CSU-related care. Oral corticosteroids were the most commonly prescribed medication, used in 54.7 % of patients. Patients accumulated a mean of 15.1 office visits per year (standard deviation 12.6). The mean all-cause healthcare cost totaled over US$9000 per year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the disease affects a relatively young population, CIU/CSU carries a substantial cost. Frequent oral corticosteroid use in CIU/CSU patients is a concern because of adverse events associated with the drug.
authors.affiliation: Partnership for Health Analytic Research, LLC, Beverly Hills, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Broder
authors.affiliation: Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA, 94080-4990, USA.
authors.forename: Karina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Raimundo
authors.affiliation: Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, CA, 94080-4990, USA. antonova.evgeniya@gene.com.
authors.forename: Evgeniya
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Antonova
authors.affiliation: Partnership for Health Analytic Research, LLC, Beverly Hills, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Eunice
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006296:Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014581:Urticaria / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult