A novel, web-based, psychological intervention for people with psoriasis: the electronic Targeted Intervention for...

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Psychiatry
• Digital Health

Background:

• Psoriasis commonly causes psychological distress and reduced quality of life, often exacerbated by long waiting times for traditional therapies.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is effective for psychological disorders and can be tailored to specific conditions like psoriasis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an electronic CBT intervention for Psoriasis (eTIPs) for its effectiveness in reducing distress and improving quality of life and clinical severity in psoriasis patients.

Main Methods:

• A wait-list randomized trial compared immediate eTIPs intervention with usual care.
• Patient-reported outcomes including psoriasis severity, anxiety, depression, and quality of life were measured pre- and post-intervention.
• Data were analyzed using complete case analysis and multiple imputation for missing values.

Main Results:

• Significant reductions in anxiety scores were observed in the intervention group compared to the control group (P < 0.05).
• Quality of life scores showed significant improvement in the intervention group (P < 0.05).
• No significant changes were found in depression scores or psoriasis severity between the groups.

Conclusions:

• The eTIPs intervention demonstrated potential in improving anxiety and quality of life for individuals with psoriasis.
• Limitations include substantial missing data, indicating that online delivery may not yet fully replace established CBT methods.
• Further research is needed to optimize online CBT delivery for dermatological conditions.