ANNUAL ECONOMIC BURDEN OF HIDRADENITIS SUPPURATIVA IN GREECE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL PATIENT SURVEY
Author(s)
Garyfallia Stefanou, MSc1, Efterpi Zafiriou, PhD2, Aikaterini Liakou, PhD3, Soultana Koukopoulou, MSc4, Eirinaios Vamvakousis, MSc4, Georgia Kourlaba, PhD5.
1ECONCARE LP, Athens, Greece, 2Dermatology Department, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece, 3Department of Dermatology – Venereorogy, Andreas Sygros Hospital of Venereal and Cutaneous Diseases, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, 4Panhellenic Society of Patients with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis ‘EPIDERMIA’, Thessaloniki, Greece, 5Department of Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
1ECONCARE LP, Athens, Greece, 2Dermatology Department, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece, 3Department of Dermatology – Venereorogy, Andreas Sygros Hospital of Venereal and Cutaneous Diseases, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, 4Panhellenic Society of Patients with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis ‘EPIDERMIA’, Thessaloniki, Greece, 5Department of Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
OBJECTIVES: To estimate the annual per-patient economic burden of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) in Greece from payer, patient, and societal perspectives, overall and by self-reported disease severity.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 100 adults with physician-diagnosed HS for at least 12 months was conducted through patient organization EPIDERMIA in 2025. Self-reported 12-month resource use, treatments, surgeries, hospitalizations, and out-of-pocket costs were collected. Direct payer costs were estimated using national reimbursement tariffs, diagnosis-related group tariffs, assumptions for public/private hospitalizations, and labelled dosing with 2025 prices for biologic therapies. Reimbursed non-biologic drug costs were not estimated because dosing/utilization data were not collected. Patient costs included self-reported out-of-pocket expenses. Societal costs included payer and patient direct costs plus productivity losses estimated from the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire and annualized over 49 working weeks. Mean annual costs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using 5,000 nonparametric bootstrap resamples; differences across severity groups were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis tests.
RESULTS: Participants had mild (n=29), moderate (n=41), or severe HS (n=30). Mean payer cost was €6,550 (95% CI: €4,813-€9,360), increasing from €2,384 in mild HS to €7,071 and €9,835 in moderate and severe HS, respectively (p<0.001). Among captured payer-cost components, HS-related biologic therapy (€5,596) accounted for 85.4% of estimated mean annual payer costs. Mean out-of-pocket cost was €725 (95% CI: €549-€1,001), with no significant severity difference (p=0.906). Mean societal cost was €15,742 (95% CI: €12,981-€19,151), increasing from €6,457 to €17,278 and €22,534 in mild, moderate, and severe disease, respectively (p<0.001). Indirect costs accounted for 50.1% of mean societal costs, driven predominantly by presenteeism (€7,400; 93.8% of indirect costs).
CONCLUSIONS: HS imposes substantial annual economic burden in Greece, particularly from moderate disease onward. Payer costs were mainly treatment-driven within captured components, while societal costs were strongly influenced by productivity impairment, especially presenteeism.
METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 100 adults with physician-diagnosed HS for at least 12 months was conducted through patient organization EPIDERMIA in 2025. Self-reported 12-month resource use, treatments, surgeries, hospitalizations, and out-of-pocket costs were collected. Direct payer costs were estimated using national reimbursement tariffs, diagnosis-related group tariffs, assumptions for public/private hospitalizations, and labelled dosing with 2025 prices for biologic therapies. Reimbursed non-biologic drug costs were not estimated because dosing/utilization data were not collected. Patient costs included self-reported out-of-pocket expenses. Societal costs included payer and patient direct costs plus productivity losses estimated from the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire and annualized over 49 working weeks. Mean annual costs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using 5,000 nonparametric bootstrap resamples; differences across severity groups were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis tests.
RESULTS: Participants had mild (n=29), moderate (n=41), or severe HS (n=30). Mean payer cost was €6,550 (95% CI: €4,813-€9,360), increasing from €2,384 in mild HS to €7,071 and €9,835 in moderate and severe HS, respectively (p<0.001). Among captured payer-cost components, HS-related biologic therapy (€5,596) accounted for 85.4% of estimated mean annual payer costs. Mean out-of-pocket cost was €725 (95% CI: €549-€1,001), with no significant severity difference (p=0.906). Mean societal cost was €15,742 (95% CI: €12,981-€19,151), increasing from €6,457 to €17,278 and €22,534 in mild, moderate, and severe disease, respectively (p<0.001). Indirect costs accounted for 50.1% of mean societal costs, driven predominantly by presenteeism (€7,400; 93.8% of indirect costs).
CONCLUSIONS: HS imposes substantial annual economic burden in Greece, particularly from moderate disease onward. Payer costs were mainly treatment-driven within captured components, while societal costs were strongly influenced by productivity impairment, especially presenteeism.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
PCR258
Topic
Economic Evaluation, Patient-Centered Research, Real World Data & Information Systems
Topic Subcategory
Patient-reported Outcomes & Quality of Life Outcomes
Disease
Systemic Disorders/Conditions (Anesthesia, Auto-Immune Disorders (n.e.c.), Hematological Disorders (non-oncologic), Pain)