Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108014

Ciara J. Gould, MSPH¹, Clifford Goodman, PhD¹, Eric Faulkner, MPH¹, Tim Dall, MS¹, Eric K. Gemmen, MA², and Nikolay Manolov, PhD¹. (1) The Lewin Group, 3130 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church, VA 22042, 703-269-5737, ciara.gould@lewin.com, (2) Medical Technology Practice, The Lewin Group, 3130 Fairview Park Drive, Suite 800, Falls Church, VA 22042

Dermatological conditions, while rarely thought of as life-threatening, are nonetheless clinically and economically burdensome for individuals with these conditions and the health care system as a whole. The considerable costs of skin diseases are generated by physician visits, hospital care, prescription drugs, and over the counter products necessary for treating or managing these conditions, as well as indirect costs due to productivity losses. While most skin conditions are not life threatening, many pose significant clinical burdens to populations and individuals as well as deficits to quality of life (QoL).

This study attempted to quantify the clinical, epidemiological, and economic burden for 22 representative dermatological conditions including melanoma, acne, cutaneous lymphoma, cutaneous fungal infections, vitiligo, atopic dermatitis, actinic keratosis, nonmelanoma skin cancer, psoriasis, and hair/nail disorders, among others. ICD-9 codes were used to mine data from sources such as the National Health Interview Survey, National Hospital Discharge Survey, National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, and the Medicare Standard Analytic Files, as well as proprietary data from Scott Levin Prescription Audit. Over the counter product costs were estimated using proprietary data from AC Nielsen. From these sources, direct costs were estimated for each condition based on the frequency of visits to physician offices, emergency rooms, and hospital outpatient departments, as well as inpatient hospital stays, procedures performed based on site of service, prescriptions written, and over the counter product purchases for these conditions.

Indirect costs associated with lost productivity were calculated to include lost productivity due to pursuit of medical care for patients and their caregivers, and lost future earnings due to premature death. Since skin conditions are usually associated with morbidity rather than mortality, the overall effects of these conditions on patient quality of life were captured utilizing scores from the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) published in the literature.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to describe the clinical and economic burden of dermatological conditions with specific knowledge of the overall prevalence of these conditions as well as the associated trends in health care utilization for these conditions.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.