Sánchez Jorge, Álvarez Leidy, Larco José Ignacio, Ensina Luis, Guidos-Fogelbach Guillermo, Reyes-López Cesar A, Ramon German D, Robles-Velasco Karla, Cherrez-Ojeda Ivan
Group of Clinical and Experimental Allergy (GACE), Hospital "Alma Mater de Antioquia", University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
Academic Group of Clinical Epidemiology (GRAEPIC), University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
Clin Transl Allergy. 2025 Jan;15(1):e70016. doi: 10.1002/clt2.70016.
Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a disease with a high impact on the quality of life of patients. There are some evaluations of the economic cost of the disease in developed countries, but there is little information about the economic cost of the disease in developing countries. Our aim was to assess the economic diagnostic and therapeutic expenses of CSU in five Latin American (LA) countries.
A noninterventional multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in five LA countries: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. To determine the frequency of medical interventions as well as clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of CSU patients, questionnaires were administered to patients, primary care physicians, allergists, and dermatologists. In each country, diagnostics and therapeutic expenses were calculated by reviewing medical records, health insurance, and interviews. The main outcome was the yearly economic burden from the healthcare insurance perspective in each country.
According to the projected costs, Brazil had the highest urticaria cost per patient/year (7009.4 USD), followed by Mexico (3695.1 USD), Ecuador (3132.8 USD), Peru (2693.9 USD), and Colombia (2392.8 USD); the cost and the frequency of use of omalizumab and antihistamines explain the total cost differences between countries. Interventions such as medical visits and exams had similar costs between countries and represented less than 10% of total urticaria cost analysis in the five countries.
The cost of the CSU in LA varies widely based on the health insurance coverage, the cost of the therapies, and the frequency of therapies used. Strengthening national health systems, as well as following the recommendations of international guidelines, seems to reduce the cost of CSU and improve the quality of patients.
慢性自发性荨麻疹（CSU）是一种对患者生活质量有重大影响的疾病。在发达国家有一些关于该疾病经济成本的评估，但在发展中国家，关于该疾病经济成本的信息很少。我们的目的是评估五个拉丁美洲国家CSU的经济诊断和治疗费用。
在五个拉丁美洲国家（巴西、哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔、墨西哥和秘鲁）进行了一项非干预性多中心横断面研究。为了确定医疗干预的频率以及CSU患者的临床和社会人口学特征，向患者、初级保健医生、过敏症专科医生和皮肤科医生发放了问卷。在每个国家，通过查阅病历、医疗保险和访谈来计算诊断和治疗费用。主要结果是从每个国家医疗保险的角度来看每年的经济负担。
根据预计成本，巴西每位患者每年的荨麻疹成本最高（7009.4美元），其次是墨西哥（3695.1美元）、厄瓜多尔（3132.8美元）、秘鲁（2693.9美元）和哥伦比亚（2392.8美元）；奥马珠单抗和抗组胺药的成本及使用频率解释了各国之间的总成本差异。诸如就诊和检查等干预措施在各国之间成本相似，且在五个国家的荨麻疹总成本分析中占比不到10%。
拉丁美洲CSU的成本因医疗保险覆盖范围、治疗费用和所用治疗频率的不同而有很大差异。加强国家卫生系统以及遵循国际指南的建议，似乎可以降低CSU的成本并提高患者的生活质量。
