BACKGROUND: Only a few international studies have assessed the economic burden of atopic dermatitis (AD), and no costs-of-illness study for AD has been done for the Netherlands. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the incidence, prevalence and health-care costs of AD in the Netherlands and to put these in an international perspective. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study by using the data of an information system of general practitioners (GPs). To calculate the health-care costs at the primary care level we assessed medical resources utilization. We assessed the costs of patients with more severe AD from a retrospective study of patient files at the department of dermatology of a general hospital. We compared our results with costs-of-illness studies for other countries. RESULTS: The overall general population incidence and prevalence of AD were 0.8% and 2.3%, respectively. The incidence and prevalence were high among children until the age of 6 years, respectively, 3.1% and 11.3%, but decreased rapidly thereafter. The total mean health-care costs per patient were USD71. The most significant costs were due to visits to the GP (USD32) and medication, mostly corticosteroids (USD21). Young children were treated more often with emollients alone. Only 7.8% of patients were referred to a specialist. The mean costs for these patients were USD186. Costs-of-illness studies for Australia, Germany, the U.K., the U.S.A. and the Netherlands suggested that the costs associated with AD vary considerably across countries. Estimates of the costs-of-illness for AD ranged from USD71 in the Netherlands to USD2559 in Germany per patient due to variation in the study population (GP vs. hospital) and the number of cost components included. Studies that included costs due to the time spent on treatment had relatively high estimates. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and incidence of AD are high among young children. In general, the health-care costs for AD were low. Patients' out-of-pocket costs were relatively high.
BACKGROUND: Only a few international studies have assessed the economic burden of atopic dermatitis (AD), and no costs-of-illness study for AD has been done for the Netherlands. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the incidence, prevalence and health-care costs of AD in the Netherlands and to put these in an international perspective. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study by using the data of an information system of general practitioners (GPs). To calculate the health-care costs at the primary care level we assessed medical resources utilization. We assessed the costs of patients with more severe AD from a retrospective study of patient files at the department of dermatology of a general hospital. We compared our results with costs-of-illness studies for other countries. RESULTS: The overall general population incidence and prevalence of AD were 0.8% and 2.3%, respectively. The incidence and prevalence were high among children until the age of 6 years, respectively, 3.1% and 11.3%, but decreased rapidly thereafter. The total mean health-care costs per patient were USD71. The most significant costs were due to visits to the GP (USD32) and medication, mostly corticosteroids (USD21). Young children were treated more often with emollients alone. Only 7.8% of patients were referred to a specialist. The mean costs for these patients were USD186. Costs-of-illness studies for Australia, Germany, the U.K., the U.S.A. and the Netherlands suggested that the costs associated with AD vary considerably across countries. Estimates of the costs-of-illness for AD ranged from USD71 in the Netherlands to USD2559 in Germany per patient due to variation in the study population (GP vs. hospital) and the number of cost components included. Studies that included costs due to the time spent on treatment had relatively high estimates. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and incidence of AD are high among young children. In general, the health-care costs for AD were low. Patients' out-of-pocket costs were relatively high.
Authors: Steven J Ersser; Fiona Cowdell; Sue Latter; Eric Gardiner; Carsten Flohr; Andrew Robert Thompson; Karina Jackson; Helen Farasat; Fiona Ware; Alison Drury Journal: Cochrane Database Syst Rev Date: 2014-01-07
Authors: Nikolaos G Papadopoulos; Ioana Agache; Sevim Bavbek; Beatrice M Bilo; Fulvio Braido; Victoria Cardona; Adnan Custovic; Jan Demonchy; Pascal Demoly; Philippe Eigenmann; Jacques Gayraud; Clive Grattan; Enrico Heffler; Peter W Hellings; Marek Jutel; Edward Knol; Jan Lötvall; Antonella Muraro; Lars K Poulsen; Graham Roberts; Peter Schmid-Grendelmeier; Chrysanthi Skevaki; Massimo Triggiani; Ronald Vanree; Thomas Werfel; Breda Flood; Susanna Palkonen; Roberta Savli; Pia Allegri; Isabella Annesi-Maesano; Francesco Annunziato; Dario Antolin-Amerigo; Christian Apfelbacher; Miguel Blanca; Ewa Bogacka; Patrizia Bonadonna; Matteo Bonini; Onur Boyman; Knut Brockow; Peter Burney; Jeroen Buters; Indre Butiene; Moises Calderon; Lars Olaf Cardell; Jean-Christoph Caubet; Sevcan Celenk; Ewa Cichocka-Jarosz; Cemal Cingi; Mariana Couto; Nicolette Dejong; Stefano Del Giacco; Nikolaos Douladiris; Filippo Fassio; Jean-Luc Fauquert; Javier Fernandez; Montserrat Fernandez Rivas; Marta Ferrer; Carsten Flohr; James Gardner; Jon Genuneit; Philippe Gevaert; Anna Groblewska; Eckard Hamelmann; Hans Jürgen Hoffmann; Karin Hoffmann-Sommergruber; Lilit Hovhannisyan; Valérie Hox; Frode L Jahnsen; Omer Kalayci; Ayse Füsun Kalpaklioglu; Jörg Kleine-Tebbe; George Konstantinou; Marcin Kurowski; Susanne Lau; Roger Lauener; Antti Lauerma; Kirsty Logan; Antoine Magnan; Joanna Makowska; Heidi Makrinioti; Paraskevi Mangina; Felicia Manole; Adriano Mari; Angel Mazon; Clare Mills; Ervinç Mingomataj; Bodo Niggemann; Gunnar Nilsson; Markus Ollert; Liam O'Mahony; Serena O'Neil; Gianni Pala; Alberto Papi; Gianni Passalacqua; Michael Perkin; Oliver Pfaar; Constantinos Pitsios; Santiago Quirce; Ulrike Raap; Monika Raulf-Heimsoth; Claudio Rhyner; Paula Robson-Ansley; Rodrigo Rodrigues Alves; Zeljka Roje; Carmen Rondon; Odilija Rudzeviciene; Franziska Ruëff; Maia Rukhadze; Gabriele Rumi; Cansin Sackesen; Alexandra F Santos; Annalisa Santucci; Christian Scharf; Carsten Schmidt-Weber; Benno Schnyder; Jürgen Schwarze; Gianenrico Senna; Svetlana Sergejeva; Sven Seys; Andrea Siracusa; Isabel Skypala; Milena Sokolowska; Francois Spertini; Radoslaw Spiewak; Aline Sprikkelman; Gunter Sturm; Ines Swoboda; Ingrid Terreehorst; Elina Toskala; Claudia Traidl-Hoffmann; Carina Venter; Berber Vlieg-Boerstra; Paul Whitacker; Margitta Worm; Paraskevi Xepapadaki; Cezmi A Akdis Journal: Clin Transl Allergy Date: 2012-11-02 Impact factor: 5.871