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. Patientswere stratified into three subgroups according to their treatment scheme. Results: Mean total costs amounted to e 6,709 per patient and year. The mean PASI score was 18.2 and PBSA 28.9% . Annual costs were highest with e 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.
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