Health‐care resource use and current treatment of adult atopic dermatitis patients in Japan: A retrospective claims database analysis

The real‐world evidence on the profiles of patients suffering from atopic dermatitis (AD) in Japan is sparse. A retrospective claim database analysis was conducted to estimate the health‐care resource use (HCRU) and current AD treatment. Data from October 2013 to September 2016 were extracted from the JMDC (Tokyo, Japan) claims database. HCRU was assessed by a comparison of AD patients and matched non‐AD controls. A multivariate analysis was performed to estimate HCRU attributable to AD. AD patients (n = 39 893) have more claims of certain diagnoses such as rhinitis, viral and fungal infections, sleep disorders and conjunctivitis as well as higher HCRU (outpatient visits, prescriptions of AD‐related and non‐AD‐related medications, phototherapy, laboratory tests) than matched non‐AD controls (n = 39 893). Treatment pattern analysis included treatment‐naive patients (n = 8478) and previously treated AD patients (n = 30 109). Approximately 20% of previously treated patients were on the continuous systemic treatment during 18‐month follow up. Systemic corticosteroids were the most frequently used systemic treatments. Oral cyclosporin was less frequently used in both groups, but for the longest duration. Almost half of previously treated patients with oral cyclosporin continued treatment for more than 3 months. In conclusion, HCRU was higher in AD patients than non‐AD controls, indicating a high burden of the disease imposed on AD patients. Continuous administration of systemic treatment, such as oral cyclosporin, systemic corticosteroids and phototherapy, observed in AD patients sheds light on the difficulties of managing AD in Japanese clinical practise.