Therapeutic burden in hidradenitis suppurativa: a cross-sectional study of 557 patients

Therapeutic burden (TB) has been identified as a potential predictor of response to biologic therapy in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS). We aim to analyze the determinants of TB in real-world clinical settings among HS patients to explain this concept and its utility as an additional tool for guiding therapeutic decision-making.

We conducted a cross-sectional study including all consecutive HS patients attending a specialized HS clinic between 2017 and 2024. The primary variable was TB, defined as the cumulative sum of prior systemic treatment cycles and surgical interventions for HS. We analyzed whether sociodemographic or clinical factors were associated with a higher TB.

We included 557 HS patients. Of these, 50.81% were women, and the mean age was 41.87 (14.19) years. Most patients (62.30%) were referred from general dermatology consultations. The mean disease duration was 17.52 (11.51) years. Regarding disease severity, 46.50% presented with Hurley II, and 42.19% had an IHS-4 score between 4 and 10. Before their baseline visit, 9.70% of patients had received biological therapy, mostly adalimumab (88.89%). The mean TB was 2.42 (2.25) systemic medical and/or surgical interventions. Referral from general dermatology or other hospital departments, older age, longer disease duration, greater HS severity, presence of pilonidal sinus, and prior biological therapy were significantly associated with higher TB.

Our findings suggest that TB comprehensively captures HS severity and progression factors. This metric could prove valuable in aiding decision-making for HS patients by indicating when a change in therapy might be necessary.