Economic burden of joint analysis in psoriasis: US claims analysis

Few studies have assessed the economic burden of concomitant joint disease in patients with psoriasis (PSO). This analysis compared health care resource utilization (HCRU) and health care costs in patients with PSO vs those with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). This was a retrospective database analysis of US commercially insured patients with PSO or PsA. Electronic health records (EHRs) and claims in Optum's deidentified Integrated Claims-Clinical data set from 2007 to 2018 were analyzed. Patients were followed up from the first PSO or PsA diagnosis for up to 5 years. Patients with claims or diagnosis codes in EHR data for PSO ("PSO only") were propensity score matched to patients with claims/diagnosis codes for both PSO and PsA ("PSO-PsA"). The matching algorithm generated 4418 matched patient pairs. During follow-up, PSO-PsA patients had greater HCRU than PSO-only patients, including more cumulative all-cause outpatient claims (P ≤ .05 at each year of follow-up). Mean total annual health care costs per patient were higher in PSO-PsA patients than PSO-only patients (PSO only: $14,546-$15,800 vs PSO-PsA: $21,581-$22,868; P