Dose escalation occurred frequently, and in one third of patients the dose was at least doubled. Dose escalations were associated with substantial increases in direct drug costs. Dose escalation of adalimumab can severely affect both the health care system and the drug budget of the physician. It needs to be considered that other biologic medications may constitute a more cost-effective alternative.

This retrospective study is the first to analyze the incidence and sex ratio of IHs based on German claims data. The treatment rate of IHs was consistent with previous reports. The mean health care costs for treated patients with IHs were substantially higher than those for all newborns. Limitations of this study are coding bias, a limited sample size, and claims perspective (nonclinical approach).

A563age distribution. Results: A total of 4739 questionnaires were analysed yielding an overall prevalence of acne of 10.6% [9.7%-11.5%] in the Mexican population. The prevalence of acne decreased with age, ranging from 21.4% [19.1%-23.6%] in age group 15-24 to 9.9% [8.4%-11.3%] and 3.6% [2.7%-4.4%] in age groups 25-39 and 40-65, respectively. Severity of acne was reported as mild or moderate by over 90% of participants with acne and was consistent across all age groups. Results from a multivariate regression on the subgroup of participants aged 15-24 years, demonstrated that dietary habits such as consumption of dairy products and fried food were risk factors for developing acne whereas occasional alcohol consumption and duration since smoking cessation above 1 year appeared to be protective. ConClusions: Self-reported acne in Mexico is a frequent skin disease although less prevalent than reported in a European survey. Dietary habits were identified as risk factors for developing acne in the 15-24 age group.