OBJECTIVES: GPP is a rare, severe, potentially life-threatening systemic disease, characterized by recurrent acute flares consisting of disseminated erythematous skin rash with sterile neutrophil-filled pustules. By understanding the burden of disease in this population, targeted interventions that improve patient quality of life can be developed. This study describes HCRU in patients with GPP.

METHODS: Patients were identified as having GPP if they had ≥1 inpatient or 2 outpatient ICD-10 L40.1 diagnosis codes, separated by 30 to 365 days. All analyses were conducted via the Aetion Evidence Platform™ v3.17, using Optum^® Clinformatics™ Data Mart, a US administrative claims database. The study period was from October 1, 2015 to March 31, 2019, with the first diagnosis code marking the index date. A general population matched cohort (MC) of 4:1, based on age and sex, was generated for context. No formal comparisons were conducted. Patient characteristics, treatment, and all-cause HCRU calculated for each visit type (inpatient, outpatient, and emergency department [ED]) during the 12-month follow up (FU) were analyzed.

RESULTS: 1669 patients with GPP were identified at baseline, and 1014 had ≥12 months’ FU. Compared with the MC, patients with GPP were more likely to suffer from psoriatic arthritis (GPP: 11.8% vs MC: 0.1%), anxiety (GPP: 11.6% vs MC: 5.8%), and depression (GPP: 10.7% vs MC: 5.0%) at baseline. During the 12-month FU, 449 (44.3%) were treated with a systemic therapy (biologic or non-biologic). Compared with the MC, patients with GPP had more outpatient visits (median: 21 vs 10), a greater frequency of inpatient (22.5% vs 10.4%) and ED (40.5% vs 23.0%) visits, and were hospitalized for longer (median: 8 vs 5 days) during the 12-month FU.

CONCLUSIONS: This analysis suggests that patients with GPP have more HCRU than those in the MC, highlighting an unmet need among patients with GPP.