Resource Use and Costs in an Insured Population of Patients with Chronic Idiopathic/Spontaneous Urticaria

BACKGROUND Chronic idiopathic or spontaneous urticaria (CIU/CSU) impairs patients' quality of life, and updated information on disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and disease burden is lacking. OBJECTIVES We aimed to estimate these figures in a large US real-world claims database via a validated algorithm. METHODS In this retrospective cross-sectional cohort study, we identified patients with CIU/CSU, estimated disease prevalence, comorbidities, and healthcare use (medications, office visits, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations) and costs (urticaria related and all cause). RESULTS We identified 6350 CIU/CSU patients in a population of just over 5.8 million: 0.11 % prevalence. Women accounted for the majority of sufferers (68.3 %) and had a greater burden of illness than men. Patients had relatively few comorbidities (mean 3.3, standard deviation 2.2). Primary care physicians and allergists were the most common providers of CIU/CSU-related care. Oral corticosteroids were the most commonly prescribed medication, used in 54.7 % of patients. Patients accumulated a mean of 15.1 office visits per year (standard deviation 12.6). The mean all-cause healthcare cost totaled over US$9000 per year. CONCLUSIONS Although the disease affects a relatively young population, CIU/CSU carries a substantial cost. Frequent oral corticosteroid use in CIU/CSU patients is a concern because of adverse events associated with the drug.