Healthcare Disparities in Hidradenitis Suppurativa in the US: TARGET-DERM HS.

Challenge

HS disproportionately affects socioeconomically disadvantaged populations and racial/ethnic minorities, but real-world data characterizing health disparities in HS disease severity, insurance coverage, and biologic utilization across racial groups in a large US/Canadian registry were limited.

Solution

The TARGET-DERM HS registry was analyzed to compare Hurley staging, comorbidity burden, insurance type, and biologic treatment rates across Non-Hispanic Black, Non-Hispanic White, Hispanic, and other/not-reported patient groups in a cohort of 697 enrolled US HS patients.

Impact

Documenting that Non-Hispanic Black patients have higher HS disease severity and the lowest private insurance rates—yet the highest biologic utilization—provides a nuanced real-world disparity profile that supports health equity advocacy, diverse enrollment planning, and the design of access programs for HS advanced therapies.