Psoriasis patients want more research in lifestyle interventions, cheaper therapies

Psoriasis patients reported a desire for cheaper oral and topical medications and further research into non-pharmacotherapeutic options to treat their condition, according to findings from a study.

“Psoriasis can greatly impact patients' quality of life,” Caroline Porter, MD, of the department of dermatology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “The introduction of new treatments has improved treatment outcomes, but treatment gaps may still exist.”

In the current analysis, Porter and colleagues surveyed 417 patients who had an Amazon Mechanical Turk account. The cohort was 51.1% women, with 39.3% aged 31 to 40 years.

Mild disease was reported in 61.2%, while 25.4% had moderate psoriasis and 13.4% had severe disease.

Nearly three-quarters of the patients (74.8%) were currently undergoing psoriasis therapy.

Satisfaction with current treatment regimens was reported by 51.6% of the cohort, whereas 24.5% reported being slightly satisfied or not satisfied at all.

Topical therapies garnered a 59.5% satisfaction rate, while 46% were satisfied with oral therapies and 19.9% were satisfied with injectable therapies.

Also, 78.7% of the cohort felt slightly or strongly that more cost-effective options should be available.

For example, patients suggested that access to UV phototherapy could be improved. In addition, further research into diet, exercise, stress reduction and other such lifestyle interventions would be appreciated. The same was true for Ayurveda and herbal remedies.

The findings are limited by the necessity of the Amazon account, according to the researchers.

“Gaps in current psoriasis treatment options included more affordable topical and oral treatments that work faster and require less frequent use,” the researchers concluded. “Despite advances in psoriasis treatment, there remains a desire for more effective, faster, longer acting, and less costly, more accessible treatments.”