Premium
Durable dermatology life quality index improvements in patients on biologics associated with psoriasis areas and severity index: a longitudinal study
Author(s) -
Chaptini Cassandra,
Quinn Steve,
Marshman Gillian
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
australasian journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.67
H-Index - 53
eISSN - 1440-0960
pISSN - 0004-8380
DOI - 10.1111/ajd.12353
Subject(s) - dermatology life quality index , medicine , psoriasis , psoriasis area and severity index , quality of life (healthcare) , depression (economics) , population , retrospective cohort study , suicidal ideation , longitudinal study , dermatology , poison control , emergency medicine , injury prevention , pathology , nursing , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Abstract Background/Objectives Patients with psoriasis experience higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation than the general population. With effective treatment, there is evidence that with the initial decrease in the psoriasis area and severity index ( PASI ) score, patients' quality of life ( QoL ), measured by the dermatology life quality index ( DLQI ) improves. However, to date, there have been no studies demonstrating that patients' QoL remains improved. We investigated the association between the DLQI and PASI of patients with psoriasis on biologic agents for an extended period of time of up to 6.5 years. Methods The data for this longitudinal, retrospective study was collected from a large tertiary teaching hospital in South A ustralia. Data was collected from all patients with psoriasis who had been on biologic agents for 2 or more years ( n = 54). Results PASI and DLQI were highly correlated over all time points ( ρ = 0.50), P < 0.001. DLQI scores significantly decreased by 0.8 (95% CI : 0.30, 1.26) units per year from 12 months to 6.5 years, P = 0.002. After 12 months, PASI scores declined by 0.19 (95% CI : 0.13, 0.52) units per year, P = 0.24. Conclusion This study demonstrates that DLQI and PASI remain low after 12 months, and, in fact, both gradually decline further with time. Patients on biologic agents for prolonged periods maintained their improvement in QoL for up to 6.5 years.