Cost of illness of oral lichen planus: a multicenter university hospital-based outpatient observational study.

Lajolo C,Salo T,Contaldo M,Gioco G,Siponen M,Rupe C,Giuliani M

doi:10.1007/s00784-021-04353-1

Abstract

ObjectivesTo estimate the economic costs of oral lichen planus (OLP) through a multicenter university hospital–based outpatient study conducted in Italy and Finland.Materials and methodsA multicenter retrospective study was conducted on patients affected by OLP to evaluate the economic cost of managing the disease. Direct costs concerning diagnostic procedures, therapeutic management, and follow-up visits were obtained from clinical records. Statistics was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics.ResultsOne hundred and eight patients with a confirmed diagnosis of OLP (81 women and 27 men), 58 Italians and 50 Finnish, were enrolled in this study. The mean annual cost was 1087.2 euros per patient. The mean annual cost was higher in Finnish than in Italian cohort (1558.7 euros vs. 680.7 euros—p < 0.05). Within the Italian cohort, the local immunosuppressive therapy group and atrophic and erosive OLP type had a higher cost (p < 0.05). Within the Finnish cohort, the local immunosuppressive therapy group had a higher cost (p < 0.05).ConclusionsOLP-related costs are very similar to other chronic oral disorders (i.e., periodontitis) with differences between investigated countries. Moreover, patients with more severe clinical features, who need immunosuppressive therapy, are facing more expensive costs.Clinical relevance.In this multicenter cost of illness study, we estimated the direct health care costs of OLP and we found that patients with more severe clinical features, who therefore need symptomatic therapy, are facing more expensive costs.

Highlights

Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in the developed world of the twenty-first century [1]
Having a global overview of a certain condition makes it possible to define the size of the disease burden in monetary terms, and provides support for health care planning related to disease prevention and control, as well as feedback for the evaluation of the program adopted by the public health care system of different countries [2, 3]
One hundred and eight patients (81 women and 27 men, mean age 60.8) with a confirmed diagnosis of oral lichen planus (OLP) were included in this multicenter study (58 Italians and 50 Finns) with a mean follow-up of 25.1 months

Summary

Introduction

Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in the developed world of the twenty-first century [1]. Stroke, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases, mental illness, musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal disorders, sight and hearing defects, and genetic diseases represent some of them These disorders significantly impact the quality of life of patients and cause a significant increase in costs related to the management of patients’ diseases and comorbidities. Intangible costs are the expression of a psychological and subjective dimension of the disease and, difficult to evaluate and quantify (e.g., pain, loss of quality of life, depression) This type of study, estimates the quantities of resources (in economic terms) used to treat the disease, and the economic consequences due to a loss of productivity caused by the disease itself. Italian and Finnish public health care systems are similar, providing preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic procedures completely free or “co-paid” by the patient: Italy provides health care service through the regional health care system, whereas Finland through local municipalities

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