Safety of classic and biologic systemic therapies for the treatment of psoriasis in elderly: an observational study from national BIOBADADERM registry

Abstract

Serious adverse events are more common in elderly patients, although they may be related to other variants that are associated with this age group and not due to the treatment itself. Use of biologics was associated with lower risk of adverse events in the whole group. We found no differences in this association between young and elderly. These results are reassuring, although uncontrolled confounding could not be excluded as an explanation for these findings, and the power of the study to detect differences was low.

The impact of age on psoriasis health care in Germany

“…In their study, Geale et al . concluded that patients are less likely to receive biologic treatment as they age which cannot be confirmed by our results and means a great burden because patients >65 do not suffer from adverse events on systemic therapy more often than younger patients . Moreover, biologics show the same efficacy for the elderly population .…”

“…Therefore, psoriasis registries function as a source of information to gather data on large psoriasis patient populations within the frame of routine care. Various national and international psoriasis registries have been established to monitor the long‐term efficacy and pharmacovigilance of systemic therapy of psoriasis . Furthermore, registries allow us to observe the healthcare routine and facilitate a long‐term study of disease and therapy courses .…”

“…In their study, Geale et al concluded that patients are less likely to receive biologic treatment as they age 10 which cannot be confirmed by our results and means a great burden because patients >65 do not suffer from adverse events on systemic therapy more often than younger patients. 13,14 Moreover, biologics show the same efficacy for the elderly population. 13 The inequity in prescription of biological drugs might be based on duration of illness or on the higher number of comorbidities in elderly patients which has been associated with a loss in therapy adherence 15 but could also be based on changing patient preferences regarding treatment efficacy or a therapy satisfaction that can be achieved more easily.…”

“…Various national and international psoriasis registries have been established to monitor the longterm efficacy and pharmacovigilance of systemic therapy of psoriasis. 14,[16][17][18] Furthermore, registries allow us to observe the healthcare routine and facilitate a long-term study of disease and therapy courses. 18 Currently, there are 14 psoriasis registries for systemic treatment of which most are located in European countries and primarily focus on safety and treatment outcome.…”

Adverse events associated with discontinuation of the biologics/classic systemic treatments for moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis: data from the Spanish Biologics Registry, Biobadaderm

“…1 The treatment includes biologic and classic systemic agents, and their safety profile is an important consideration; long-term data, in particular, have raised concerns associated with their prolonged use. [2][3][4][5][6][7] In general, the safety data come from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or their extensions, 8 usually with short follow-up periods, and from the spontaneous reporting of adverse reactions. 9 RCTs are governed by restrictive inclusion and exclusion criteria involving a selected population, which might have a better safety profile than the general population.…”