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The following is a summary of “Exploring racial and ethnic disparities in the hidradenitis suppurativa patient disease journey: Results from a real-world study in Europe and the USA,” published in the October 2024 issue of Dermatology by Jaleel et al.
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a chronic inflammatory skin disorder, disproportionately impacted racial and ethnic minorities, leading to delayed diagnosis and increased disease severity.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to analyze the impact of race/ethnicity on HS diagnosis and management in actual clinical settings.
They collected data from a survey of dermatologists and patients with HS in 5 European countries and the USA in 2020/2021. Dermatologists provided demographic and clinical data, treatment goals, and satisfaction for their next 5 to 7 consulting patients. Patients answered a questionnaire on disease history and diagnosis, disease burden, and treatment satisfaction, and the groups were compared employing bivariate tests.
The results showed that 312 physicians provided data on 1,787 patients, of whom 57.6% were female and 77.7% were White. Individuals from racial and ethnic minority groups were younger than White patients (mean age 32.9 ± 11.6 years vs 34.9 ± 12.4 years) and reported symptoms at a younger age (23.3 ± 10.8 years vs. 26.2 ± 11.1 years). However, the time to first consultation was longer for minority groups (2.6 ± 5.7 years vs 1.2 ± 2.5 years). These individuals also took longer to receive a correct diagnosis after the first consultation (2.7 ± 5.3 years vs 1.5 ± 4.1 years) and were more frequently misdiagnosed with boils (73.5% vs 40.4%). Additionally, minority patients exhibited greater disease awareness at diagnosis and desired more support. They reported a more significant impact on life, higher levels of pain, and more significant activity impairment estimated by the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment: General Health scale (27.0 ± 25.2 vs 20.0 ± 20.6) with all P values = ≤0.05.
They concluded that data showed delayed diagnosis and increased HS symptom burden in racial and ethnic minorities, emphasizing HS health disparities.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1346-8138.17386
