Clinical improvement and satisfaction with biologic therapy in patients with severe plaque psoriasis: results of a European cross-sectional observational study

Background: Efficacy of biologic therapies for psoriasis has been demonstrated in randomized trials, but effectiveness in real-world settings has yet to be fully determined. Objective: To compare clinical improvement and treatment satisfaction with biologic versus other therapies in patients with plaque psoriasis. Methods: European dermatologists recruited psoriasis patients into an observational study. Dermatologists reported disease severity before and after starting current therapy; dermatologists and patients reported treatment satisfaction. Results: These analyses included 2151 patients: topicals, n = 453; phototherapy, n = 666; conventional systemics, n = 683; biologics, n = 349. The percentage with severe disease declined from 70% before to 15% after biologics, a significantly greater decline than other therapies: topicals, 22–10%; phototherapy, 20–11%; conventional systemics, 49–15% (all p ≤ 0.03). Significantly more patients (59%) receiving biologics were satisfied with treatment versus topicals ...