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Patients With Mild to Moderate Psoriasis Still Report Unmet Treatment Needs
Patients with mild to moderate psoriasis still report several unmet needs regarding treatment goals, according to an online cross-sectional survey. The results of the survey were published in the journal Dermatology and Therapy.
Researchers created a survey to evaluate the treatment experience of patients with mild to moderate psoriasis who were using topical therapies to manage their disease. Respondents were adults with mild to moderate disease, defined as a body surface area (BSA) 10% or less. They answered questions about their treatment goals, perceived changes in their disease after initiating current prescribed treatment, satisfaction with that treatment, and overall treatment adherence.
A total of 175 respondents completed the survey, reporting a median of 10.8 years since diagnosis of psoriasis. While the median number of topical treatments used was three, participants reported using their current prescription topical for a median of 5 years. Treatment goals included improvements in visible skin, non-skin-related symptoms, and social-emotional well-being.
Notably, 43.4% of patients reported no change in disease BSA, while 5.7% reported 75% or more reduction in BSA. Three-fourths of the respondents said that the topical treatments improved their itch and pain symptoms, but approximately the same percentage said their emotional well-being persisted after treatment. Half of patients reported mediocre adherence.
“Contrary to their treatment goals, patients with mild to moderate psoriasis using prescription topicals reported partial effectiveness, incomplete symptom resolution, impacted emotional and social well-being, and suboptimal global satisfaction, effectiveness, adherence, and convenience,” wrote the study authors. “Our findings highlight several unmet needs among topical-experienced, systemic-naïve patients.”
Reference
Gupta S, Garbarini S, Nazareth T, Khilefh I, Costantino H, Kaplan D. Characterizing outcomes and unmet needs among patients in the United States with mild-to-moderate plaque psoriasis using prescription topicals. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). Published online October 14, 2021. doi:10.1007/s13555-021-00620-x
