Socioeconomic Costs and Health Inequalities from Psoriasis: A Cohort Study

Background: To date, there are no nationwide studies of the social and economic burden of psoriasis to patients in Denmark. Incentives for health care management based on patient-related outcomes and value (IMPROVE) in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis is a project aimed at assisting movement from activity-based to outcome-based health care management. One of the key objectives in IMPROVE is to describe the disease-associated socioeconomic burden of psoriasis. Methods: A case-matched study of the impact of psoriasis on patients’ income, employment and health care costs in Denmark was performed. The IMPROVE study was a retrospective analysis of patients with a hospital diagnosis of psoriasis identified from the Danish National Patient Registry (NPR). In total, 13,025 psoriasis patients and 25,629 matched controls were identified from the NPR. Data from psoriasis patients and matched controls were compared for social and economic factors including income, employment, health care costs and risk of comorbidities. Results: Psoriasis was associated with increased health care costs (mean annual costs +116% compared to control, p < 0.001), peaking in the year of referral to hospital for psoriasis and sustained thereafter. Both direct and indirect costs were significantly higher for patients with psoriasis than controls (p < 0.001). In the years before and immediately following hospital diagnosis, the rates of employment were lower in psoriasis patients than controls. Comorbidities, including cardiovascular (odds ratio 1.93 [95% CI 1.77–2.09]) and psychiatric conditions (odds ratio 2.61 [95% CI 2.30–2.97]), were more prevalent in patients with psoriasis than controls. Conclusion: In Denmark, psoriasis has a significant impact on health care costs, income and employment, and is associated with a range of comorbidities.