Work Productivity and Healthcare Resource Utilization Outcomes for Patients on Etanercept for Moderate-to-Severe Plaque Psoriasis

Background: Data investigating the effect of etanercept on work productivity and healthcare resource utilization in Canadian patients in a clinical setting is limited. Objective: The aim of the study was to describe work productivity and healthcare resource utilization in patients with psoriasis prescribed etanercept. Methods: A 12-month, phase IV, non-randomized, multicentre, open-label, single-arm prospective trial of patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis was conducted between March 2006 and July 2009 in 37 community dermatology practice sites across Canada. A total of 246 patients were enrolled. Major eligibility criteria: ≥18 years of age; diagnosis of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis at baseline (Physician Global Assessment [PGA] ≥3, scale 0–5); able to start etanercept therapy as per product monograph. Patients received etanercept (Enbrel®) 50 mg subcutaneously twice weekly for 3 months, then 50 mg once weekly for 9 months. Outcomes were measured by average change and average percent change from baseline at months 3, 6, 9 and 12 on the Work Productivity and Activity Im-pairment (WPAI) and Healthcare Resource Utilization (HRU) questionnaires. Results: The mean degree of impairment while working ± standard deviation (SD) in the total population decreased from 22.7% ±23.2 at baseline to 6.6% ±14 after 3 months of treatment (p > 0.0001). From baseline to 3 months, overall work impairment± SD decreased from 23.7%±23.7 to 8.3%±16.5 (p > 0.0001) and mean activity impairment outside the workplace decreased from 31.4%±26.4 to 12.9%±22.4 (p>0.0001). All these improvements were sustained to month 12. Other variables that decreased on average from baseline to month 3, sustained to month 12, included physician office visits (2.3/month±3.5 at baseline to 0.6/month± 1.0 at month 3; p>0.0002), hours of assistance required of family and friends to assist with psoriasis (1.1 hours/week ±2.6 at baseline to 0.3 hours/week ± 1.5 at month 3; p=0.0002) and amount of time spent on activities to manage psoriasis (5.5 hours/week±6.2 at baseline to 1.9 hours/week±3.7 at month 3; p>0.0001). Also, the amount of out-of-pocket expenses to manage psoriasis decreased from $Can94.9/month±331.6 at baseline to $Can35.7±69.1 at month 12 (p=0.0153). Conclusions: Use of etanercept in Canadian patients in a clinical practice setting correlated with improvement in work productivity and reduced HRU after 3 months of treatment, and improvement was sustained up to 12 months. Copyright Springer International Publishing AG 2012