Assessing the Effect of Demographic Background on Barriers to Seek Medical Attention for Psoriasis

Abstract

Background: Lack of treatment or undertreatment of psoriasis is a major issue. Demographics might be related to specific barriers to health care. Objective: To assess the association between demographic background and barriers to seek medical attention for individuals with psoriasis. Methods: A total of 152 subjects with self-reported psoriasis were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk and surveyed via Qualtrics to assess the impact of demographics on health care barriers. Subjects were presented with an image of a psoriatic plaque on an elbow and asked to rate how large of a barrier they would face to seek care on a 1 to 10 scale. Outcome measures were compared using multiple linear regression. Results: Demographics were correlated with high cost of care (F(6,107) = 3.38, P < .01, R 2 = 0.16), lack of availability of services (F(6,60) = 2.84, P = .01, R 2 = 0.22), and lack of understanding treatment options (F(6,61) = 2.18, P = .05, R 2 = 0.18). Conclusion: Some demographic groups face higher rates of barriers to seek medical attention. These barriers may contribute to undertreatment of psoriasis.