Quality of life and treatment goals in psoriasis from the patient perspective: results of an Austrian cross-sectional survey

Patients with psoriasis experience impairment in quality of life. Thus, high-quality dermatological care is of particular importance. We performed a nationwide cross-sectional survey in Austria (BQSAustria Psoriasis 2014/2015) with a special focus on quality of life and satisfaction with treatment a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft 2018-08, Vol.16 (8), p.981-990
Main Authors: Wolf, Peter, Weger, Wolfgang, Legat, Franz, Painsi, Clemens, Saxinger, Werner, Müllegger, Robert, Sator, Paul, Ratzinger, Gudrun, Selhofer, Sylvia, Richter, Leo, Salmhofer, Wolfgang, Lange-Asschenfeldt, Bernhard, Trautinger, Franz, Mlynek, Alexander, Strohal, Robert, Augustin, Matthias, Quehenberger, Franz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Austria
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Pain
Patient satisfaction
Patients
Pruritus
Psoriasis
Psoriasis - complications
Psoriasis - therapy
Quality of Life
Scalp
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Summary:Patients with psoriasis experience impairment in quality of life. Thus, high-quality dermatological care is of particular importance. We performed a nationwide cross-sectional survey in Austria (BQSAustria Psoriasis 2014/2015) with a special focus on quality of life and satisfaction with treatment among psoriasis patients predominantly treated at tertiary care centers. Overall, 70.2 % of 1,184 patients reported impaired quality of life (DLQI 2-5: 29.4 %; 6-10: 19.3 %; 11-15: 11.5 %; 16-20: 5.2 % and > 20: 4.9 %) despite treatment over the preceding four weeks (topical treatment in 88.2 % of cases and/or systemic treatment in 38.7 %). On average, none of the 25 defined subjective treatment goals was achieved to a sufficient degree. In particular, 82.2 % of patients continued to have pruritus despite treatment, which was highly significantly associated with a poor general health status over the preceding week (Spearman's rank correlation; p  =  1.1e-45), the extent of body surface area (p  =  3.2e-11) and scalp area (p  =  3.2e-11) affected, as well as pain (p  =  2.3e-22). Treatment with a biologic was significantly correlated with higher patient satisfaction (Wilcoxon-Test, p  =  2.0e-16). Despite dermatological care, the majority of Austrian psoriasis patients continues to experience impaired quality of life; there is potential for improvement in the achievement of treatment goals.
ISSN:1610-0379
1610-0387
DOI:10.1111/ddg.13613