Improvement of health-related quality of life and adherence to treatment with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel in patients with psoriasis vulgaris

Background: psoriasis is a common,chronic,recurrent,immune-mediated disorder of the skin and joints. it can have a significant negative impact on the physical,emotional and psychosocial wellbeing of affected patients. objectives: to measure improvement in health-related qol (hrqol) in greek patients with psoriasis vulgaris after a month of treatment with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel; and evaluate adherence to treatment parameters. methods: the study included 394 psoriasis vulgaris patients from 16 private dermatological practices in greece,all treated with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel. they were evaluated at the first visit and after 4 weeks. moreover,they completed the dermatology life quality index (dlqi),while other data such as disease severity,subjective symptoms and adherence,were collected. results: at week 4,the dlqi median was reduced by 3.5 points from the baseline (p<0.001; baseline and week 4 median: 4.5 and 1.0 respectively). pruritus and sleep disorders also improved (p<0.001). furthermore,90.1% of the subjects fully adhered to treatment,with a 97.1% mean level of compliance. conclusions: the convincing clinical results,with a distinct improvement in hrqol,plus the high level of adherence due to its advantageous physical properties,make the calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel formulation an important,effective and well-tolerated topical therapy to treat psoriasis. © 2016 by anais brasileiros de dermatologia.