Hidradenitis suppurativa in patients of color is associated with increased disease severity and healthcare utilization: A retrospective analysis of 2 U.S. cohorts

BACKGROUND: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is known to disproportionately affect patients of color; however, there is a paucity of evidence on how its disease profile varies between races and ethnic groups. OBJECTIVE: Explore potential race-dependent differences in the disease profile of HS. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on HS patients at Stanford Hospital and Clinics. Data were compared in terms of demographics, disease severity, and healthcare utilization between races in adults identified to have at least 2 encounters coded for HS. Validation was conducted using Optum's de-identified Clinformatics Data Mart Database of national insurance claims. RESULTS: Our cohorts consisted of 939 HS patients seen at Stanford and 13,885 HS patients taken from the national dataset. Black and Hispanic patients had greater healthcare utilization compared to White patients. In addition, Hispanic patients at our institution also had significantly increased disease severity compared to their White counterparts (χ(2)P = .009). Hispanic patients entered tertiary care at an earlier age (Stanford mean: 30.8 years for Hispanics vs 38.7 for Whites; P < .001), while Black patients entered later (Stanford mean: 39.6 years). LIMITATIONS: These cohorts may not be representative of the entire HS patient population. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that patients of color may have greater healthcare utilization and disease severity compared to other groups.