Abstract
Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated disease that is difficult to treat. Psoriasis treatment adherence and patients' satisfaction with their psoriasis treatment are important components to positive clinical outcomes.
Data collected during the July 2005 U.S. National Health and Wellness Survey were analyzed. As part of this survey, patients with psoriasis self-assessed their adherence to and satisfaction with their psoriasis therapy. The Morisky-Green Test (MGT) was used to assess medication adherence, and a 5-point scale ranging from 1(not at all satisfied) to 5 (extremely satisfied), was used to assess psoriasis therapy satisfaction.
Of 41,184 respondents included in the survey, 1,240 reported a diagnosis of psoriasis. Overall, patients were not satisfied with their treatment and their adherence was less than optimal. In this study, patients receiving biologics appeared to be the most satisfied and adherent. More than half of the patients were satisfied with biologics (72.1%), phototherapy (60.7%) and corticosteroid topical agents (50.4%), but levels of satisfaction were lower with noncorticosteroid topical therapies (42.6), oral immunosuppressants (41.2), vitamin-derived topical agents (37.2), other prescription treatments (37.0) and tars (32.6).
Further research should focus more on patient education and improving physician-patient interactions to improve patient adherence to achieve optimal therapy outcome.
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