Background/Purpose: The costs of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are substantial for both patients and the United States healthcare system. This study compared healthcare resource utilization and costs across three groups: patients with psoriasis, patients with PsA, and matched controls with neither psoriasis nor PsA in the United States.

Methods: The IBM MarketScan Commercial Database was used to identify three adult patient groups from 1/1/2009 through 2/29/2020: 1) Psoriasis patients: ≥ 1 inpatient or 2 outpatient psoriasis diagnoses and no PsA diagnoses; 2) PsA patients: ≥ 1 inpatient or 2 outpatient PsA diagnoses; 3) Control: absence of psoriasis and PsA diagnoses. Controls were matched 1:1 to psoriasis and PsA patients based on age, gender, and comorbidities. Healthcare resource utilization and costs (in 2019 USD) were evaluated descriptively and through mixed models for five years of follow-up.

Results: 208,434 psoriasis patients and 47,274 PsA patients were matched to the control group (N=255,708). Annual all-cause healthcare costs per patient were $7,542, $11,856, and $29,621 for the control, psoriasis, and PsA group, respectively. All-cause healthcare costs were significantly greater among patients with PsA and patients with psoriasis than controls at one year (p< 0.0001). These costs were also significantly greater for PsA patients than psoriasis patients at one year (p< 0.0001). This trend of increased costs for patients with PsA compared with the other groups was sustained throughout the five years of follow-up (Figure 1). Across all categories of healthcare resources, utilization was greatest among patients with PsA and lowest in the control group (Table 1). Categories included inpatient hospitalizations, physician office visits, and hospital outpatient, radiology, emergency room, laboratory, and outpatient pharmacy services.

Conclusion: Annual healthcare costs and resource utilization were significantly higher for PsA patients compared with psoriasis patients and the control group. The cost and resource utilization differences between these patient groups highlight the higher burden of illness for PsA patients as compared to patients with psoriasis, or patients without either of these diseases.

Figure 1. Mean and median all-cause healthcare costs per patient per follow-up year

Table 1. Healthcare resource utilization during follow-up

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/healthcare-utilization-and-costs-among-patients-with-psoriatic-arthritis-and-psoriasis-in-the-united-states-a-retrospective-study-of-claims-data-from-2009-to-2020/