Photo Credit: Eik Scott

The following is a summary of “Patient and physician perspectives on disease burden in chronic spontaneous urticaria,” published in the March 2025 issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology by Mosnaim et al. 

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) causes severe symptoms that reduce quality of life, but patients and physicians often differ in their views on its burden. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study on the clinical and humanistic burden of CSU, analyzing patient and physician agreement on disease impact and treatment satisfaction. 

They conducted a cross-sectional survey of US physicians and adult patients with CSU using data from the 2020–2021 Adelphi CSU Disease Specific Programme. They analyzed 1,082 patient records from 110 physicians (40 allergists/immunologists, 50 dermatologists, 20 primary care physicians) and 474 matched patient questionnaires to assess agreement on disease burden and treatment satisfaction. 

The results showed that 66% of patients had physician-reported itching, 49% had hives, and 23% had a history of angioedema. Despite improvement since diagnosis, 46% of patients and 30% of physicians reported moderate/severe symptoms. Moderate/severe disease affected quality of life, sleep, work, and treatment satisfaction more than mild disease. Symptom severity agreement ranged from 61% to 74%, with physicians often underreporting severity. Treatment satisfaction agreement was highest with mild CSU (82%), mild hives (80%), and omalizumab or other biologics (87%). 

Investigators found that moderate/severe CSU had a greater disease burden and lower treatment satisfaction, with physicians often underreporting severity compared with patients. 

Source: annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206(24)01722-8/fulltext