Jacob P. Thyssen, Andreas W. Brenneche, Maria E. Madsen, Mikkel H. Pedersen, Dennis J. Trangbaek, Christian Vestergaard
DOI: 10.2340/00015555-3908

To estimate the cost of illness in adult patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) a cohort study was conducted identifying Danish citizens (≥ 18 years) diagnosed with AD between 1997 and 2018 in the Danish National Patient Register. Moderate-to-severe AD was defined as ≥3 hospital contacts regarding AD the first year after  diagnosis. Each patient with AD was matched to 3 reference individuals through the Central Person Registry. Societal costs included the direct costs for primary-sector visits, inpatient hospitalizations, outpatient contacts, prescription medicine and indirect costs of lost productivity 3 years before and 5 years after the index date (the study period). A total of 5,245 patients with moderate-to-severe AD were identified. The mean attributable healthcare costs for patients with moderate-to-severe AD were EUR 10,835 (p < 0.0001) during the study period. Moderate-to-severe AD among adults inferred substantial economic burden compared with a group of matched reference individuals.

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease resulting in dry, itchy skin. This register-based study showed that having moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis as an adult was associated with substantial economic burden, with lower income and reduced lifetime earnings on an individual level, and higher societal costs on the overall level, such as higher healthcare utilization, paid sick leave, disability insurance, etc., compared with individuals who do not have atopic dermatitis. The study indicates an unmet need for better management and treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.

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