The difference in cost associated with using two common treatments for psoriasis over the course of one year with treatment lasting 16 weeks are small, according to an article in the June issue of the Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease for which there is no cure. Methotrexate and cyclosporine are the two most common systemic (as opposed to topically applied) treatments for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis and have been used for the past 40 and 20 years, respectively. Both medications have been studied and are effective at minimizing psoriasis, however, their unit costs are different.
Brent C. Opmeer, Ph.D., from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues compared the direct and indirect medical costs and nonmedical costs of treating psoriasis with methotrexate (n=43) vs. cyclosporine (n=42) in 85 adult patients with moderate to severe psoriasis with no previous use of the two medications. Patients enrolled in the study between October 13, 1998 and June 15, 2000 and were treated for 16 weeks with an additional 36 weeks of follow-up. Direct costs were those generated by using health care resources (medication, diagnostic procedures, and visits to health care professionals). Indirect costs were associated with lost or impaired ability to work or to engage in leisure-time activities.