OBJECTIVES: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, characterized by chronic airway inflammation, that tends to present as a lifelong condition. The aim of this research was to investigate the current Italian clinical pathway and the economic burden of disease for patients with allergic asthma at different stages of severity.

METHODS: A retrospective Real-World Analysis was conducted in Italy to evaluate the healthcare resources used in the management of patients with allergic asthma from January 2015 to December 2016. In order to collect aggregated data, four respiratory Centers of Excellence (CoEs) were engaged and a Form Report was developed to describe the number of affected patients and the healthcare resources associated, through specific questions. In particular, drug costs and direct costs related to the diagnosis, the follow-up and the management of complications were evaluated. Direct costs were estimated multiplying the drugs, hospitalization and management costs derived by data reported by Experts. Patients were classified into three age clusters (12-17, 18-65, > RESULTS: The analysis of the four CoEs was carried out on 3.015 patients affected by allergic asthma. Around 50% of patients were allergic to House Dust Mite (HDM) and the main comobidity was allergic rhinitis (77%). The total economic direct costs associated of management of allergic asthma were € 2.708.826. In particular, the main cost was related to drugs, which accounted for € 2.053.561 of the total expenditure, followed by the cost for diagnosis and follow-up (€ 462.908), and the cost for the management of the complications (€ 23.069).

CONCLUSIONS: The current findings describe the economic burden related to the management of allergic asthma in Italy, thus representing an opportunity for public decision-makers to implement the most appropriate choices.