Financial burden and impact of atopic dermatitis out-of-pocket healthcare expenses among black individuals in the United States

Raj Chovatiya, Wendy Smith Begolka*, Isabelle J. Thibau, Jonathan I. Silverberg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Black race is associated with increased atopic dermatitis (AD) severity and healthcare resource utilization. However, the burden of out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses among black individuals with AD is not well understood. We sought to characterize the categories and impact of OOP healthcare expenses associated with AD management among black individuals. A 25-question voluntary online survey was administered to National Eczema Association members (N = 113,502). Inclusion criteria (US residents age ≥ 18 years; self-report of AD or primary caregivers of individuals with AD) was met by 77.3% (1118/1447) of respondents. Black individuals with AD were younger, had lower household income, Medicaid, urban residence, poor AD control and frequent skin infections (P ≤ 0.02). Blacks vs. non-blacks reported more OOP costs for prescription medications covered (74.2% vs. 63.6%, P = 0.04) and not covered (65.1% vs. 46.5%, P = 0.0004) by insurance, emergency room visits (22.1% vs. 11.8%, P = 0.005), and outpatient laboratory testing (33.3% vs. 21.8%, P = 0.01). Black race was associated with increased household financial impact from OOP expenses (P = 0.0009), and predictors of financial impact included minimally controlled AD (adjusted OR [95% CI] 13.88 [1.63–117.96], P = 0.02), systemic therapy (4.34 [1.63–11.54], 0.003), > $200 monthly OOP expenses (14.28 [3.42–59.60], P = 0.0003), and Medicaid (4.02 [1.15–14.07], P = 0.03). Blacks with Medicaid had higher odds of harmful financial impact (3.32 [1.77–6.24], P = 0.0002) than those of black race (1.81 [1.04–3.15], P = 0.04) or with Medicaid (1.39 [1.02–1.88], P = 0.04) alone. Black race is associated with increased OOP costs for AD and significant household financial impact. Targeted interventions are needed to address financial disparities in AD.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)739-747
Number of pages9
JournalArchives of Dermatological Research
Volume314
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2022

Funding

Raj Chovatiya reports personal fees from Abbvie, Regeneron, and Sanofi-Genzyme. Jonathan Silverberg reports personal fees from Abbvie, Anaptysbio, Asana, EliLilly, Galderma, GlaxoSmithKline, Kiniksa, Leo, Menlo, Pfizer, Realm, RegeneronSanofi, and Roivant, and grants from GlaxoSmithKline, Regeneron, Sanofi- Genzyme, and Galderma. Wendy Begolka and Isabelle Thibau declare no competing interests.

Keywords

  • Atopic dermatitis
  • Cost of care
  • Expense
  • Financial burden
  • Out-of-pocket

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Dermatology

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