Cost of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in Germany: a multicenter cost-of-illness study.

BACKGROUND There is little information concerning the costs of psoriasis and patients' quality of life (QoL) in Germany. OBJECTIVE To obtain data on the annual costs and QoL(to follow in a further publication) of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. METHODS Between October 2003 and February 2004, six office-based dermatologists and eight dermatology outpatient departments retrospectively documented cost-of-illness data from a societal cost perspective in 184 patients over a 12-month period. Patients were stratified into three subgroups according to their treatment scheme. RESULTS Mean total costs amounted to euro 6,709 per patient and year. The mean PASI score was 18.2 and PBSA 28.9%. Annual costs were highest with euro 8,831 in high-need patients. They also showed the highest PASI score (22.2). CONCLUSION Moderate to severe plaque psoriasis is associated with tremendous costs, particularly in patients not adequately controlled by conventional therapies, while the outcomes of patients were unsatisfactory.