Grant: Pro. Gr. - PA: Inst. of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis: IMHA Mandate Areas

Eczema is the most common inflammatory skin condition, affecting up to 20% of the Canadian population. Eczema patients suffer due to the appearance of their skin, unbearable itch, and sleep disturbance. Eczema often begins in childhood and continues in adulthood. The global burden of eczema is greater than other skin conditions. The burden of eczema in Canada is not fully understood due to a lack of data, and there are many research gaps. Many new eczema treatments have been developed in the past few years. There is an urgent need to ensure patients have access to safe and effective treatments. In this study, we have two major goals. First, we will determine the number of eczema patients accessing the healthcare system and their associated complications. We will use health databases which have tracked visits to healthcare providers between 2003 to 2023. We are interested in the type of healthcare provider accessed and the type of treatment prescribed for eczema. Second, we will investigate how factors such as age, sex, gender, ethnicity, and location (health authority and regional population size) impact the care of eczema patients. The health databases we will access provide data on more than 800,000 eczema patients, collected over two decades. Trends in the treatments prescribed for eczema are important for health resource planning by health ministry and policy makers, especially since new systemic medications are very costly (>$20,000/year per patient). Our study will help healthcare providers understand which other medical conditions occur more frequently in eczema patients, which will help with treatment planning. From our study findings, we will work with patient support programs to target those at higher risk to not meet clinical treatment guidelines causing severe eczema flares. Overall, our study will fill knowledge gaps to improve eczema care.