Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 13, 2026
Measuring Psoriasis Severity at Home
Published on: March 1, 2024
Are patients with psoriasis undertreated? Results of National Psoriasis Foundation survey
Elizabeth J Horn1, Kathleen M Fox, Vaishali Patel
1National Psoriasis Foundation, Portland, Oregon 97223-7195, USA.
Objective:
We sought to assess whether patients with psoriasis with moderate or severe disease are being treated with systemic therapy.
Methods:
Participants were identified from a random sample of the National Psoriasis Foundation contact database who were 18 years and older, with severe psoriasis (>10% body surface area) and moderate psoriasis (3%-10% body surface area); respondents with psoriatic arthritis were excluded.
Results:
In all, 1657 respondents with psoriasis completed the survey (28% severe, 41% moderate). A total of 39% of respondents with severe psoriasis and 37% with moderate psoriasis were not currently receiving any treatment. Among respondents currently receiving therapy, only 43% of respondents with severe psoriasis received either traditional systemic therapy, biologic therapy, or phototherapy.
Limitations:
Respondents were from the National Psoriasis Foundation contact database and reported their current severity, which may be affected by their treatment. Body surface area as a measure of patient-reported severity has not been validated but has been used in several published studies.
Conclusions:
Almost 40% of respondents with psoriasis were currently not receiving treatment. For respondents with severe psoriasis, 26% were treated with systemic therapy, phototherapy, or both; 39% were not in treatment; and 35% were treated with topical therapy alone.
