Treatment costs of psoriasis in a tertiary-level clinic

Abstract

BackgroundThe costs of psoriasis to a tertiary-level clinic vary considerably depending on the country of study and methods used. Hospitalisation and phototherapy have been significant cost components. This study was performed to estimate the distribution and relative magnitude of the costs of psoriasis to a tertiary-level clinic.MethodsBased on 233 patients, outpatient and phototherapy visits and the days hospitalised were collected from the treatment provider’s records. The visit costs represented true costs, used to charge the final payers. Patients were analysed according to their treatment modalities.ResultsOn average, hospitalised patients (3.4%) had 31-fold higher total costs than non-hospitalised patients (p < 0.0001). The costs of hospitalisations formed 45% of all the treatment costs to the entire study population. Phototherapy accumulated 19% of the overall treatment costs. Patients receiving biological drugs or both phototherapy and traditional systemic therapy had the highest costs of treatment.ConclusionsThe current study indicates that a small percentage of all psoriasis patients generate a large proportion of the overall costs to a tertiary-level hospital. Treatment modality has a significant effect on the costs to a tertiary-level hospital.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1472-6963-14-344) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy improves quality of life of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients up to 3 months: Results from an observational multicenter study

“…The costs of NB‐UVB phototherapy were lower than in previous studies, probably because we included only one dermatologist's appointment to the calculations. Also, we did not register potential laboratory, pathology or hospitalization costs.…”

“…MED testing is rarely performed preceding phototherapy in our country, and photo-testing devices may also be lacking on the site. Defining the skin photo-type without MED testing is a The costs of NB-UVB phototherapy were lower than in previous studies, [17][18][19]44 probably because we included only one dermatologist's appointment to the calculations. Also, we did not register potential laboratory, pathology or hospitalization costs.…”

Narrowband ultraviolet B treatment for psoriasis is highly economical and causes significant savings in cost for topical treatments

“…One realworld study from Finland assigned a cost of €755 for a course of NB-UVB, with an average of 14 sessions per course. 15 However, it is not clear how the price charge of €32 per session cited therein related to the cumulative price. In addition, these authors included external items (e.g.…”

The Effects of a Self-Care Program on Promoting Self-Care Behaviors in Patients with Psoriasis

“…The total direct costs associated with psoriasis were estimated at 5 million dollars in the United States in 2006 (13); therefore, the cost of relapse and recurrence can be reduced from 7706 to 25 Euros by implementing nonpharmacological methods (8). Patient education is one of the best nonpharmacological methods and one of the most important roles of nurses (30).…”

“…It is equally prevalent in men and women (1), affecting 1% -3% of the population worldwide (6), 3% of the American population (2), and 9% of the Iranians population (7). Moderate to severe psoriasis is associated with diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic syndrome (1), anger, anxiety, frustration (5), increased risk of mortality (8), diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia (9), obesity (3), and reduced quality of life (10).…”