The socioeconomic impact of atopic dermatitis in the United States: a systematic review.

The aim of this study was to review studies examining the direct and indirect costs of atopic dermatitis in the United States. A search was performed using OVID MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process and Other Non-Indexed Citations, EMBASE, the International Agency for Health Technology Assessment (INAHTA) database, and the Cochrane Library. All abstracts were reviewed for the following criteria: original cost data, studies performed in the United States, and English language. The search yielded 418 papers. Fifty-nine papers were reviewed in detail, and four studies were found that met the inclusion criteria. These cost-identification analyses estimated the cost of atopic dermatitis heterogeneously and could not be compared directly. National cost estimates ranged widely, from $364 million to $3.8 billion US dollars per year. The cost of atopic dermatitis is significant and will likely increase in proportion to increasing disease prevalence. Measurement of the cost of atopic dermatitis in the United States has been limited to direct cost-identification analyses, with few studies measuring the indirect cost of disease.