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Updated: May 16, 2025
The Goeckerman Regimen for the Treatment of Moderate to Severe Psoriasis
Published on: July 11, 2013
Lower Drug Survival, Less Satisfaction and More Adverse Events in Females Using Biologics for Psoriasis: Results of
Liana Barenbrug1, Renate G van der Molen2, Jake S F Maurits3
1Department of Dermatology, Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc), Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Background:
Drug survival of biologics for psoriasis has reported to be lower in females than males for first-generation biologics (TNF-α/interleukin (IL) 12/23 inhibitors (i)); insights for newer biologics (IL17i and IL23i) are scarce.
Objectives:
To study sex-differences in drug survival and other treatment outcomes of biologics (including IL17i/IL23i) in patients with psoriasis.
Methods:
Data were obtained from the Dutch, prospective, multicenter, BioCAPTURE registry. Kaplan-Meier drug survival curves were split for specific discontinuation reasons and stratified for sex. Cox regression models with confounder correction were used to investigate the association of sex with drug survival. Adverse events (AEs) leading to biologic discontinuation were compared between sexes. Confounder-corrected Generalized Estimated Equation models were used to compare the course Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM)) scores, and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores between sexes.
Results:
We included 428 females and 703 males (respectively 744 and 1069 treatment episodes). For all biologics, female sex was associated with shorter overall, AE-related, and effectiveness-related drug survival. For IL17i/IL23i specifically, female sex was associated with shorter overall and effectiveness-related drug survival, but not with shorter AE-related drug survival. In the TSQM females reported to experience more often AEs and to be, in general, less satisfied than males. No sex-differences were found for PASI and DLQI during the first year of treatment.
Conclusion:
Biologics, including IL17i and IL23i, showed lower drug survival rates for females. This could be linked to the sex-differences we found regarding AEs and treatment satisfaction with biologics.
