Prevalence of Psoriasis in Children and Adolescents in the United States: A Claims-Based Analysis

Abstract

Importance: While psoriasis (Ps) is mainly characterized as an adult disease, it can also develop during childhood. However, prevalence estimates of pediatric psoriasis in the United States (US) are lacking.

Objective: To assess the 2015 annual prevalence of Ps and moderate-to-severe Ps in pediatric individuals in the US.

Design: This is a retrospective study based on a large administrative insurance claims database in the US.

Setting: Data were extracted from the Truven Health Analytics MarketScan® Commercial Claims and Encounters database, which covers over 60 million individuals with employer-provided health insurance across the US.

Participants: Over 4.3 million of individuals continuously enrolled in their healthcare plan in 2015 and under 18 years of age were included in the study. Intervention(s) for Clinical Trials or Exposure(s) for Observational Studies: Not applicable. Main Outcome(s) and Measure(s): Ps was defined based on medical claims with a diagnosis of Ps (ICD-9-CM: 696.1); moderate-to-severe Ps was defined based on medical or pharmacy claims for a systemic treatment (biologic, conventional systemic, or phototherapy) for Ps. Overall and age- and gender-stratified prevalence was estimated for both Ps and moderate-to-severe Ps.

Results: The prevalence of Ps was estimated at 128 cases per 100,000 individuals (95% CI: 124-131), that of moderate-to-severe Ps at 16 cases per 100,000 individuals (95% CI: 15-17) in 2015. For both Ps and moderate-to-severe Ps, prevalence estimates were numerically higher in females than in males (146 per 100,000 vs. 110 per 100,000 and 17 per 100,000 vs. 15 per 100,000) and increased with age, ranging from 30 per 100,000 in the 0-3 year old group to 205 per 100,000 in the 12-17 year old group.

Conclusion and relevance: This study provides robust estimates of the prevalence of pediatric Ps that can inform decisions pertaining to the management of pediatric patients with Ps. J Drugs Dermatol. 2018;17(2):187-194.