Quality of Life Evaluation in Psoriasis Patients Starting a Biological Treatment: The Importance of a More Comprehensive Assessment of Disease Burden

Abstract

Psoriasis is a chronic condition that has a significant negative impact on a patient’s quality of life (QoL). Measures of the clinical severity of psoriasis alone may not reflect patients’ perceptions of the impact of the disease on their lives. The aim of our study was to assess QoL in psoriasis patients who were candidates to receive one of the new biological treatments in order to obtain a more complete evaluation of the severity of the disease prior to treatment. A total of 180 patients were analysed, with all being affected by plaquetype psoriasis. The clinical severity of psoriasis was assessed by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index, while QoL was assessed by three measures: the Dermatology Life Quality Index, the Skindex-29, and the Psoriasis Disability Index. Our results show how pervasive the impact of psoriasis is in patients who are candidates for the new biological treatments, and they further confirm the lack of a strong correlation between measures of clinical severity and QoL.