


1–3 Less common forms include a band-like area of hair loss around the scalp (ophiasis), a halo-like form (ophiasis inversus ), 4 and others. 1 Patients with AA can present with small patches of hair loss complete loss of scalp hair, known as alopecia totalis (AT) or complete loss of scalp, facial, and body hair, known as alopecia universalis (AU).
#ALOPECIA UNIVERSALIS TREATMENT 2015 SKIN#
Study findings suggest that AA incurs costs as a medical condition with a high burden on adolescent patients and health plans.Īlopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune skin disease characterized by nonscarring hair loss. Although the data preclude the identification of AA-attributable costs, the matched-control design allows an estimation of incremental all-cause costs associated with AA.Ĭonclusions: Adolescents with AA incurred substantial incremental healthcare costs, with greater costs incurred among those with AT/AU. Oral corticosteroid use was higher among patients with AT/AU topical and injectable corticosteroid use was higher for non-AT/AU. The greater burden was driven by more frequent outpatient visits, and higher payer medical and pharmacy costs in comparison with controls. The non-AT/AU cohort vs controls had more outpatient (11.6 vs 8.0) and dermatologist (3.4 vs 0.4) visits, higher mean plan costs ($7587 vs $4496), and higher OOP costs ($1579 vs $805) (all P<.001).ĭiscussion: This large-sample, real-world analysis found that adolescents with prevalent AA had significantly higher HCRU and all-cause costs than matched controls. Post-index, AT/AU vs controls had more outpatient (14.5 vs 7.1) and dermatologist (3.6 vs 0.3) visits, higher mean plan costs ($9397 vs $2267), including medical ($7480 vs $1780) and pharmacy ($1918 vs $487) costs, and higher OOP costs ($2081 vs $751) (all P<.001). Results: Patients comprised 130 AT/AU adolescents and 1105 non-AT/AU adolescents (53.8% female mean age, 14.6 years). Per patient per year HCRU and costs were compared post-index. Patients were matched 1:3 to non-AA controls on index year, demographics, plan type, and Charlson Comorbidity Index. Methods: IBM MarketScan® Commercial and Medicare databases were used to identify patients aged 12-17 years with ≥2 claims with AA/AT/AU diagnosis (prevalent cases), from October 1, 2015, to March 31, 2018, enrolled for ≥12 months before and after the first AA diagnosis (index). Objectives: To assess healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and all-cause direct healthcare costs, including out-of-pocket (OOP) costs, of US adolescents with AA. AA significantly affects quality of life, but evidence on the economic burden in adolescents is limited. Alopecia totalis (AT) and universalis (AU) involve scalp and total body hair loss, respectively. Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease of hair loss affecting people of all ages.
