Costs for Phototherapy Vary Among Skin Diseases

Authors of a recent study found that doses and phototherapy-related costs vary among skin diseases and are not typically considered in treatment recommendations.

“Phototherapy has been a mainstay therapy for dermatological diseases since more than a century,” researchers wrote. “Although phototherapy is still extensively used and some recommendations exist, only scarce data are available addressing disease-specific differences in cumulative doses, treatment durations, and costs.”

In order to determine the differences in cumulative doses, numbers of sessions, side effects, and costs among different skin diseases, a single-center, retrospective study was conducted. Researchers examined patients who received phototherapy between March 2014 and April 2019 and put them into seven diagnostic groups. Patients were then analyzed based on the goals of the study.

Based on the criteria, there were 561 study participants (age 53.9 ± 20.3 years; 52.9% females), and 83.7% were treated with cabin NB-UVB (mean cumulative dose 17.79 ± 17.11 J/cm² ). Of note, participants with “vitiligo and psoriasis were treated with significantly higher cumulative NB-UVB doses (cabin, local) in comparison with the five other diagnostic groups as were males in comparison with females.”

According to the study findings, higher UV-related costs were recorded among male patients as well as those with vitiligo and psoriasis. The researchers found that patients with atopic dermatitis and pruritus received higher cumulative UVA1 doses compared to those with non atopic eczema.

Overall, the researchers reported that the complication rate among the participants, which was pooled from all UV modalities, was 3.8%. The complications included:

• erythema (3.4%);
• aggravated itch (0.4%); and
• worsening of symptoms 0.2%.

“Our results demonstrate that cumulative doses and phototherapy-related costs vary strongly among skin diseases-a fact not adequately considered in recommendations,” study authors concluded.

“A more disease-specific stratification of phototherapy could not only help to optimize outcomes, but also to facilitate comparability of clinical trials using phototherapy.”

Reference:
Merkel TA, Navarini A, Mueller S. Differences in phototherapy among skin diseases and genders in real-life conditions-A retrospective analysis of the cumulative doses, numbers of sessions, side effects and costs in 561 patients [published online ahead of print, 2021 Apr 1]. Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2021;10.1111/phpp.12683. doi:10.1111/phpp.12683