Economic Burden of Psoriasis: A Review of Literature

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that primarily affects the skin and joints. Although the disease is known to be non-life threatening, psoriasis patients usually need lifelong care, which equals lifetime expenses. Many cost analysis studies on psoriasis have not been comprehensive in calculating both its direct and indirect costs, and there are very limited studies on the economic burden of this disease in Asian countries. Therefore, a systematic literature review was done to gain a comprehensive understanding of the economic burden of psoriasis throughout the world. Observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the period 2000 to 2014 and reporting on the direct and indirect costs of psoriasis was included. The search for literatures in the PUBMED database using keyword "economic burden of psoriasis", "direct cost" and indirect cost" has produced 182 articles. Of all the articles identified, 37 reports studies have met the inclusion criteria. Direct costs were found to be higher than indirect costs, with hospitalization, medication prescription, travel, and treatment costs as significant aspects. Loss of productivity and wage (indirect costs borne by the patient) is not uncommon among psoriasis patients, accounting for 30-50% of the total cost, with an average of 2.2 work hours lost due to psoriasis. The limited information on such cost analysis justifies the need for future studies that address the cost of psoriasis therapies so as to provide the necessary transparency to guarantee reasonable medical care that takes into account the cost-benefit ratio and the best outcome for the patient’s quality of life.