There has been no comprehensive synthesis of studies evaluating the cost of chronic hand eczema (CHE). A recent review evaluated the societal costs, healthcare resource utilization, missed work time and job loss due to CHE. 

It searched MEDLINE and 16 other databases and websites for studies meeting prespecified inclusion criteria and included studies conducted in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. Two reviewers independently assessed the papers published in English between 2000 and 2020. 

The study applied inflation and conversion to dollars and Euros to all data taken from 2001 to 2013. It included 30 studies (reported in 33 publications) in the synthesis and found:

• Mean total societal costs/year/patient ranges from $2549 (€1813) to $10,883 (€7738).
• Pharmacological therapy is, on average, $28.34 (€20.15)/month in Italy and $36.49 (€25.94)/month for emollients in Switzerland.
• Yearly treatment costs are $599.05 (€425.92) for drugs, including topical corticosteroids, topical calcineurin inhibitors, other topical treatments and oral treatments, and $178.40 for emollients, in Germany.
• CHE is associated with hospitalization costs ranging from $81.86 (€58.20)/patient/month (US) to $105.04 (€74.68)/patient/month (Italy) and $639.59 (€454.75)/year (Germany).
• Up to 57% of patients take sick leave, and up to 25% report job loss/job change due to CHE. 

This review confirms that CHE causes a significant economic burden. Since few studies estimate the monetary costs of absenteeism, presenteeism and job loss associated with CHE, this study may underestimate current mean societal costs. 

Source: Armstrong A, Hahn-Pedersen J, Bartlett C, et al. Economic burden of chronic hand eczema: a review. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2022;23(3):287-300.