Satisfaction with onychomycosis treatment. Pulse versus continuous dosing

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Podiatric Medicine
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Onychomycosis, a fungal nail infection, often requires systemic antifungal treatment.
• Continuous terbinafine and pulse-dose itraconazole are common oral therapies for toenail onychomycosis.
• Patient-reported outcomes like satisfaction and compliance are crucial for treatment success.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare patient satisfaction and compliance between continuous terbinafine and pulse-dose itraconazole for toenail onychomycosis.
• To evaluate differences in treatment experience from the patient's perspective.

Main Methods:

• Multicenter, open-label, cross-sectional study design.
• Involved patients from dermatology and podiatric clinics who previously completed treatment.
• Telephone interviews assessed clinical outcomes, compliance, and satisfaction; medical chart review supplemented data.

Main Results:

• Patients reported significantly greater ease and convenience with continuous terbinafine therapy.
• Overall patient satisfaction was higher with continuous terbinafine compared to pulse-dose itraconazole.
• No significant differences in clinical outcomes were mentioned in the abstract.

Conclusions:

• Continuous terbinafine therapy is associated with superior patient-reported satisfaction and treatment convenience for toenail onychomycosis.
• Findings suggest patient preference may favor continuous terbinafine for its ease of use.
• This highlights the importance of considering patient experience in antifungal nail infection management.