Title: POSC155 Work Productivity in Adult Patients with Atopic Dermatitis
Abstract: Productivity loss in chronic skin conditions causes significant burden to society. The aim of this study was to estimate the indirect costs of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). A cross-sectional, multicentre study was conducted at in Hungary from 2018 to 2020, in which consecutive AD patients aged ≥18 years were recruited. A prevalence-based cost analysis was performed including indirect (productivity loss) costs. Two categories of indirect costs were considered in our research: absence from work (absenteeism) and reduced productivity at work (presenteeism). The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI-SHP) questionnaire was used to measure absenteeism and presenteeism during the past week. Productivity loss was valued using the human capital approach: working hours missed were multiplied by the mean gross hourly wage (7.6EUR/hour in 2020). Altogether 218 patients completed our survey (57.8% female) with a mean age of 31.34 (SD=11.68). Half (50.0%) of the patients were employed full-time, while 2.8% were disability pensioner (out of whom 2 patients due to their AD). On average patients missed 4.5 (11.5) hours of work per week. Patients with mild, moderate and severe disease according to their Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score missed 1.2 (3.6), 3.3 (9.4) and 11.5 (17.8) hours from work, respectively (p=0.004); patients with no symptoms didn't report productivity losses. One fifth of the patients (22.0%, n=48) had absenteeism cost, while 87 (39.9%) presenteeism cost. The average cost of absenteeism in our sample was 1,793 (4,560) EUR, while the mean annual cost of presenteeism was 2,142 (3,494) EUR per patient. We found no significant differences in absenteeism and presenteeism by gender or level of education (p>0.05). Severe adult AD was found to be associated with high productivity loss emphasizing the societal burden of chronic skin diseases.