Satisfaction with current psoriasis treatment: misalignment between physician and patient perceptions

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Health Services Research
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Psoriasis treatment satisfaction is often low among patients.
• The degree of alignment between patient and dermatologist satisfaction with psoriasis therapy is not well understood.
• Real-world data can elucidate patient-physician agreement on treatment outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the alignment of satisfaction between psoriasis patients and their treating dermatologists.
• To investigate the association between satisfaction alignment and disease severity, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and work productivity.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Adelphi 2011/2013 Psoriasis Disease Specific Programmes, involving US dermatologists and their patients.
• Physicians and patients independently reported satisfaction with psoriasis control.
• Defined 'aligned' and 'misaligned' groups based on satisfaction responses; analyzed disease severity, HRQoL (EQ-5D, DLQI), and work productivity (WPAI) using multivariate regressions.

Main Results:

• Out of 627 patient-physician pairs, 18.3% were misaligned.
• Misaligned patients exhibited more moderate-to-severe psoriasis, itching, pain, and scaling compared to aligned patients.
• Misalignment was linked to reduced HRQoL (lower EQ-5D, higher DLQI) and greater work productivity loss (higher WPAI scores).

Conclusions:

• A significant proportion of psoriasis patients (18.3%) are misaligned with their dermatologists' satisfaction regarding treatment.
• Satisfaction misalignment is associated with worse disease control, diminished quality of life, and impaired work productivity.
• Addressing this misalignment may improve patient outcomes and therapeutic efficacy in psoriasis management.