The impact of biological therapy on health-related quality of life in patients with psoriasis

Abstract

Introduction/Aim. Psoriasis is a chronic, relapsing, non-infectious dermatosis, affecting patients' quality of life. There is still insufficient evidence from routine clinical practice on how the biological therapy improves the quality of life of patients with psoriasis. The aim of our study was to examine the effectiveness of biological therapy, regardless of the drug type, on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with psoriasis. Methods. We performed a prospective observational pilot study at the Clinic of Dermatovenerology, University Clinical Center Niš in the period from from October 1, 2019 to March 1, 2020. The study involved 29 patients with psoriasis vulgaris (11 females, 18 males) on biological therapeutics regardless of the type of the drug. The severity of psoriatic lesions and the patient's response to treatment was assessed using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) before the treatment with secukinumab and ustekinumab and after 10 weeks. Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was determined at the beginning of biological treatment as well as after 10 weeks. Results. The average age of participants was 49.69 ± 12.75 years and the sample consisted mainly of men (62.1%). The average disease duration among men was 16.44 ± 10.05 years, and among women 17.82 ± 12.79 years. The mean DLQI decreased from 15.62 ± 7.79 to 6.34 ± 7.19 after biological treatment. The initial mean PASI and DLQI scores differed significantly from the average control scores (t-test for paired samples, p < 0.0001). Conclusion. Biological therapies of psoriasis, in addition to improving the clinical picture, demonstrated an improvement in the patients' HRQoL very quickly and they should be considered during evaluating the benefits and risks of this type of therapy.