Objective: To assess the impact of atopic dermatitis (AD) on total burden of illness and quality of life in a managed care population.
Methods: This study included retrospective evaluation of electronic claims, patient surveys of financial burden and quality of life (QOL), and medical chart review. A total of 962 AD patients had 12 months of claims data available. Of these, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), SF-36, and Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) were mailed to 400 participants (42%) who consented to take part in the prospective evaluation, 298 of whom returned evaluable questionnaires (75% response rate to survey and 31% of eligible patients). Survey responders comprised the cohort used for determination of economic and humanistic burden of illness. Additionally, socioeconomic demographics, out-of-pocket expenses, and clinical history (including disease severity) were collected via survey. Provider assessments of disease severity were collected via chart review.
Results: The patient mean age was 17.22+/-0.94 years, which was not unexpected considering AD is the eighth most common disease in people younger than 25 years. Mean 167 dollars per person, or only 27.4% of the total burden. A vast majority of the direct medical expenditures occurred in the outpatient setting and were composed primarily of clinic visits and medications. Approximately 50% of the total burden of illness associated with AD resulted from days lost from work. The remainder of the burden was out-of-pocket costs to the patients and their families. More than 75% of the out-of-pocket costs resulted from household items and medications. The mean DLQI score for the 107 adults was 6.6+/-5.4, and the mean CDLQI score among the 132 children aged 4 to 16 years was 5.8+/-5.9, compared with adults without skin disease (0.5+/-1.1) and children without skin disease (0.38+/-0.71) in the validation populations. Patient-assessed severity demonstrated a stronger correlation with CDLQI and DLQI than did provider-assessed severity.
Conclusion: Atopic dermatitis, while not a life-threatening illness, imposes a financial burden on the health care system, but even more so on the individual. Indirect costs, such as the purchase of special household items and days lost from work, comprise a great proportion of this burden and should not be overlooked when evaluating this disease.