Background: Limited health outcomes information exists for patients with mild to moderate plaque psoriasis (hereafter, referred to as psoriasis) prescribed topical treatment(s).
Aim: We evaluated clinical characteristics of patients with systemic-naïve mild to moderate psoriasis after topical use in the United States.
Methods: Data were drawn from 2017 to 2018 Adelphi Psoriasis Disease Specific Programme™, a point-in-time survey of physicians and adult psoriasis patients, capturing data on topical treatment at time of consultation prescribed to systemic-naïve patients with mild to moderate psoriasis (i.e. body surface area [BSA] ≤ 10%) at current treatment initiation. Patient clinical characteristics before/after topical use were evaluated descriptively.
Results: Among 304 patients (median age 43.0 years; 53.6% female), mean time since diagnosis was 60.9 months. After a mean 6.9 months on their current topical, 14.5% of patients achieved ≥75% BSA reduction, 38.9% ≥50% BSA reduction, and 50.2% no BSA reduction. Residual psoriasis symptoms included scaling (76.5%), inflamed skin (65.9%), and itching (60.4%). Most patients (71.2%) had residual psoriasis in special body areas: nails (92.3%), palmoplantar (78.9%), scalp (75.9%), and face (65.8%).
Conclusion: We found unmet need in topical treatment effectiveness in mild to moderate psoriasis patients, in terms of BSA reduction, symptoms, and special body areas affected.
Keywords: Psoriasis; body surface area; topical administration; treatment outcomes.