Abstract
Background
COVID-19 poses significant challenges for care of patients with chronic inflammatory skin diseases including psoriasis.
Objectives
To investigate changes in treatment and/or appointments for psoriasis patients in a German university hospital due to the pandemic.
Materials & Methods
A postal survey was conducted between May 15 and June 15, 2020. Potential determinants of changes were analysed with descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression.
Results
Out of 205 respondents, 19.5% missed an appointment and 9.8% changed therapy due to the pandemic. Treatment alterations were encouraged by patients (50%) and physicians (40%), whereas cancellations of appointments mostly occurred on patients’ request (70%). Several patient-related key drivers of changes, including sociodemographic, disease- and health-related characteristics were identified. Changes in treatment and appointments were associated with higher psoriasis severity scores and more frequent disease aggravations.
Conclusion
It is particularly crucial to tailor psoriasis care to individual needs in order to protect the physical and mental well-being of patients during the pandemic.
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Financial support: none. Conflicts of interest: N. Ninosu, F. Roehrich and K. Diehl declare no conflicst of interest. W. K. Peitsch served as investigator for Abb-Vie, Array Biopharma, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer and UCB Pharma, was a member of advisory boards for BMS, Eli Lilly, LEO Pharma, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and UCB Pharma, obtained honoraria from ALK-Abello, AbbVie, Biotest, BMS, Janssen-Cilag, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Dr. Pfleger and Roche, and received support for conferences from AbbVie, Actelion, ALK-Abello, Alma Lasers, Almirall Hermal, ARC Lasers, Asclepion, Beiersdorf, BMS, Celgene, Dermapharm, Dermasence, Eli Lilly, Galderma, GSK, Immunocore, Janssen-Cilag, L’Oreal, La Roche Posay, LEO Pharma, Medac, MSD, Mylan, Novartis, Pierre Fabre, P&M Cosmetics, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi and Sun Pharma. M.-L. Schaarschmidt has been an advisor and/or received speakers’ honoraria and/or received grants and/or participated in clinical trials for the following companies: Abbvie, Allmirall, Biogen Inc., Böhringer-Ingelheim, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Merck Serono GmbH, MSD SHARP & DOHME GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH and UCB. The study was performed without support from the pharmaceutical industry, and the conflicts of interest have no impact on the content of the manuscript.
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Ninosu, N., Roehrich, F., Diehl, K. et al. Psoriasis care during the time of COVID-19: real-world data on changes in treatments and appointments from a German university hospital. Eur J Dermatol 31, 183–191 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2021.4016
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2021.4016