Adherence to treatment in patients with psoriasis vulgaris: Turkish experience

Treatment adherence has been an important issue in therapies of chronic diseases such as psoriasis vulgaris. There are a few studies on treatment adherence in psoriasis patients in literature.

The goal of this study is to show treatment adherence and the factors that affect it in psoriasis patients in Turkish population.

A total of 109 patients with psoriasis vulgaris were enrolled in an 8-week study. A standard questionnaire was completed by the patients. 'Psoriasis Area and Severity Index' and 'Dermatology life quality index' scores and treatment regimens of patients were recorded. At the end of the 8-week therapy, treatment adherence scores were calculated by using self-reported data given by the patients. The level of satisfaction and reasons for missing treatment were recorded.

One hundred three patients (44 men, 59 women) completed the study. The overall rate of treatment adherence was 75%. Single or divorced patients had a significantly higher mean adherence than married ones. There was a significant correlation between adherence and education level. The average level of satisfaction was 44.3%, and the adherence of satisfied patients was statistically more significant than that of the unsatisfied patients. The major two reasons for non-adherence to the therapy were being busy (25.45%) and fed up (21.81%).

In the present study, we found that marital status, education and satisfaction level were important for treatment adherence. We suggest that further studies with different contributing factors consisting of social, cultural and psychological effects may be useful for treatment adherence in psoriasis patients.