Work limitations and productivity loss are associated with health-related quality of life but not with clinical severity in patients with psoriasis.

BACKGROUND According to current guidelines the cost of productivity loss should be considered in pharmacoeconomic analyses. The cost of health-related productivity loss in psoriasis patients is unknown. OBJECTIVE To estimate the cost of productivity loss in psoriasis and its association with health-related quality of life and clinical disease severity. METHODS Cross-sectional study, recruitment of adult participants through Internet advertisements. 201 (72.3%) out of 278 eligible participants completed the study. Health-related work productivity loss, quality of life and clinical severity of psoriasis were assessed by standardized instruments. RESULTS Indirect costs of productivity loss clearly exceed the total direct cost. In contrast to objective clinical disease severity, health-related quality of life (measured by the Dermatology Life Quality Index) is an independent predictor of work productivity. CONCLUSIONS There is good reason to believe that intervention can reduce health-related productivity loss by improving patients' quality of life. Savings from increased work productivity might offset comparatively high acquisition costs of biological agents.