Chao Li’s research while affiliated with University of Illinois Chicago and other places

Importance Alopecia areata (AA) has been associated with multiple comorbidities, yet information regarding the timing of comorbidity development after AA diagnosis is limited. Objective To evaluate the prevalence and new-onset incidence of psychiatric and autoimmune comorbidities in patients with AA in the US. Design, Setting, and Participants This retrospective cohort analysis used data collected from January 1, 2007, to April 30, 2023, from the Merative MarketScan Research Databases, which contains medical and drug claims data from more than 46 million patients in the US. Data from adolescent and adult patients (aged 12-64 years) diagnosed with AA and patients without AA (ie, controls) were evaluated. For some analyses, patients with AA were matched (1:4) to controls based on sex, age, and geographic region. Main Outcomes and Measures Prevalence (at the time of AA diagnosis) and incidence (new onset after AA diagnosis) of psychiatric and autoimmune diseases were reported as percentage of patients. Risk of developing a new-onset psychiatric or autoimmune disease after AA diagnosis was calculated as adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) with 95% CIs. Results At baseline, 63 384 patients with AA and 3 309 107 without AA were identified. After matching, there were 16 512 and 66 048 patients in the AA and control groups, respectively, with a mean (SD) age of 36.9 (13.4) years and 50.6% of whom were female. Compared with the unmatched controls, patients with AA had higher prevalence of psychiatric (30.9% vs 26.8%; P < .001) and autoimmune (16.1% vs 8.9%; P < .0001) comorbidities at AA diagnosis; incidence was also higher in patients with AA (without history of these comorbidities) vs the matched control group. Patients with AA vs controls had a significantly higher risk of developing a psychiatric (AHR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.3-1.4) or autoimmune (AHR, 2.7; 95% CI, 2.5-2.8) comorbidity. Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, patients with AA had a higher prevalence of autoimmune and psychiatric comorbidities at AA diagnosis and demonstrated an elevated risk of new-onset autoimmune and psychiatric comorbidities after their diagnosis. These data highlight the most common comorbidities among patients with AA and may help physicians counsel and monitor patients newly diagnosed with AA.

Introduction Vitiligo is often associated with comorbid conditions that may increase economic burden and affect patients’ health-related quality of life. No large-scale study has been published to date using claims databases to evaluate the burden of comorbidities among patients with vitiligo. Herein, we evaluate the comorbidity burden among patients diagnosed with vitiligo from the US. Methods This retrospective cohort analysis used the Merative MarketScan Commercial Database. Eligible patients were diagnosed with vitiligo between January 2008 and December 2020 and matched 1:4 (vitiligo:control) with control subjects with no diagnosis of vitiligo between January 2007 and December 2021. Study outcomes were the incidence of comorbidities after matching, adjusted hazard ratios of comorbidity incidence among patients with vitiligo relative to matched control subjects, and time to comorbidity diagnosis or incidence. Results Baseline demographics were well balanced between matched vitiligo (n = 13,687) and control cohorts (n = 54,748). Incidence rates of comorbidities were higher among patients compared with control subjects (psychiatric, 28.4% vs 22.8%; autoimmune, 13.4% vs 5.1%; and non-autoimmune, 10.0% vs 7.0%). The most common psychiatric and autoimmune comorbidities in patients with vitiligo compared with control subjects included anxiety (14.3% vs 11.0%, respectively), sleep disturbance (9.1% vs 7.1%), depression (8.0% vs 6.3%), atopic dermatitis (3.1% vs 1.1%), psoriasis (2.7% vs 0.6%), and linear morphea (1.5% vs 0.1%). The risk of developing any psychiatric (hazard ratio 1.31; P < 0.01), autoimmune (hazard ratio 2.77; P < 0.01), or non-autoimmune (hazard ratio 1.45; P < 0.01) comorbidity was significantly higher among patients with vitiligo. Time to diagnosis of most vitiligo comorbidities was 1–3 years, although linear morphea was diagnosed at < 1 year. Conclusion Results of this retrospective analysis demonstrated that patients were much more likely to be diagnosed with autoimmune or psychiatric comorbidities following a vitiligo diagnosis, which likely contributed to increased economic burden and lower quality of life.

Introduction: Vitiligo is an autoimmune disorder resulting in skin depigmentation, with limited approved treatment options. This study evaluated medication utilization and treatment patterns among patients in the first year following vitiligo diagnosis. Methods: This retrospective analysis of claims data from the Merative® MarketScan Research Databases included patients aged ≥ 12 years newly diagnosed with vitiligo. Patients were identified between October 1, 2016, and April 30, 2021, and had ≥ 12 months of continuous enrollment pre- and post-vitiligo diagnosis. Medication use, treatment line of therapy, time to and number of medication claims, and length of therapy were reported in the 12 months post-vitiligo diagnosis. Results are reported separately for treatment initiators post-vitiligo diagnosis, patients with moderate-to-severe vitiligo, and adolescents (aged 12-17 years). Results: A total of 19,335 patients were included in the analysis, with half (N = 9648, 49.9%) not receiving any treatment during the 12-month follow-up. Switching was minimal among treatment initiators (N = 5845) in the 12 months post-vitiligo diagnosis, with the most frequent first-line treatments being high-potency topical corticosteroids (25.4%), oral corticosteroids (23.1%), and topical calcineurin inhibitors (TCI, 14.7%). Adolescents initiating treatment (N = 486) most frequently received TCI (30.9%) as first-line therapy. Patients with moderate-to-severe vitiligo (N = 3462) were very likely to receive treatment during follow-up, with only 1.5% not receiving treatment. Among patients with no vitiligo treatment prior to diagnosis, time to first medication claim ranged from 51.9 days (standard deviation [SD], 84.0) for TCI to 178.6 days (SD 116.0) for systemic immunosuppressants; mean total days supplied ranged from 14.4 days (SD 27.1) for oral corticosteroids to 121.0 (SD 114.0) for immunosuppressants. Conclusion: In this real-world study, a high proportion of patients did not receive any treatment. Among those receiving treatment, most were unlikely to switch or use a combination of treatments within the first year of vitiligo diagnosis.