Treatment preferences and treatment satisfaction among psoriasis patients: a systematic review

A critical gap exists in determining treatment preferences and treatment satisfaction from patient perspectives, which is paramount to achieving therapeutic success. The objective of this systematic review is to determine factors influencing treatment preferences and treatment satisfaction among psoriasis patients. PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were searched between November 1, 2010, and December 1, 2017. Observational and interventional research studies published in the English language that discussed patient preferences and patient satisfaction in the treatment of psoriasis were reviewed and synthesized. We utilized data on treatment preferences and treatment satisfaction from 35,388 psoriasis patients based on 60 articles from the years 2010 to 2017. Treatment preferences were heterogeneous and changed over time among psoriasis patients. Across all treatment modalities, the most important treatment attributes were treatment location, probability of improvement, and delivery method. For biologics specifically, the most important attributes were risk of adverse events and probability of treatment benefit. Factors that influenced patients' preferences for certain treatments included age, sex, comorbidities, disease duration, and prior treatments. Notably, some psoriasis patients placed higher importance on a treatment's process attributes (e.g., access and delivery) over its outcome attributes (e.g., efficacy). Overall, patient satisfaction with existing therapies remains modest; however, those treated with biologic agents exhibited highest treatment satisfaction over oral therapy, phototherapy, and topical therapy.