PSY119 - TREATMENT PATTERN ANALYSIS AND HEALTHCARE RESOURCE CONSUMPTION ON PATIENTS AFFECTED BY PSORIASIS IN APULIA REGION (ITALY).

To analyze the therapeutic and diagnostic pathways for patients affected by psoriasis in Apulia, and to estimate the healthcare resource consumption and related costs for the Italian regional Health System. An observational retrospective cohort analysis of administrative database “EDOTTO” of Apulia Region was performed; patients ≥18 years were included if they met one of the following criteria: hospitalization discharge diagnosis of psoriasis (ICD-9-CM 696.1), or exemption code for psoriasis (045.696.1), or a first prescription of a topical antipsoriatic drug (ATC D05A) between 01/01/2010 and 31/12/2015. All patients were followed up for 12 months [from index date (ID) (first match with one of the inclusion criteria) until December 2016]. Type of antipsoriatic drug (topical, DMARD, and biologic), persistence in treatment and annual cost of illness related to the therapeutical strategy applied were analyzed. . 30,010 patients were included in the analysis, mean age was 54.3 years and 55.3% were male. At the ID, most of them (89.5%) were treated with a topical antipsoriatic drug, 13.7% with a DMARD drug and 3.9% with a biologic drug (mainly etanercept and adalimumab). More than half (55.7%) of the patients was not treated with any antipsoriatic drug before ID, whereas this proportion decreased to 2.8% in the follow up period. Persistence to ID treatment was 79% for biologics, 64% for DMARDs and 30% for topical drugs. The mean annual healthcare costs according to treatment at ID were €17,454 for patients treated with biologics, €2,168 for DMARDs, €1,431 for topical drugs. This real-world study in Apulia Region showed that, first therapeutical approach in psoriasis patients was topical drugs, however, greater persistence in treatment was observed with biologic drugs. Further research using a larger sample of patients is needed to confirm and contextualize our findings.