Savic S, Leeman L, El-Shanawany T, Ellis R, Gach JE, Marinho S, Wahie S, Sargur R, Bewley AP, Nakonechna A, Randall R, Fragkas N, Somenzi O, Marsland A.
Clin Exp Dermatol. 2020 Apr 4. doi: 10.1111/ced.14230. [Epub ahead of print]
Chronic urticaria is a group of skin conditions that include chronic spontaneous urticaria and chronic inducible urticaria. Symptoms include itchy wheals and/or angioedema for a period longer than 6 weeks. The objective of this study was to provide information demonstrating the real-life burden of chronic urticaria in the UK.
The non-interventional AWARE study (A World-wide Antihistamine-Refractory chronic urticaria patient Evaluation) collected data from a representative sample of chronic urticaria patients worldwide. A subset of UK patients aged 18-75 diagnosed with H1-antihistamine-refractory chronic spontaneous urticaria was analysed.
Baseline analysis included 252 UK patients, mostly female (77,8%) with moderate-to-severe disease activity and a spontaneous component to their chronic urticaria. Comorbidities included depression/anxiety (24,6%), asthma (23,8%) and allergic rhinitis (12,7%). 57,9% of the patients had undergone a treatment. Their mean Dermatology Life Quality Index score was 9,5 with report of reduction in work productivity and activity. These patients referred a high need to use healthcare resources. Chronic spontaneous urticaria severity was linked to gender, obesity, anxiety and diagnosis.
Only 28,5% of UK patients completed all nine study visits, which limits analysis of long-term treatment patterns and disease impact. Chronic urticaria patients reported high rates of healthcare resource use and impairment in quality of life, work productivity and activity at baseline, which highlights the need to ensure appropriate management to optimise patient quality of life and reduce the socioeconomic burden of chronic urticaria in the UK.
