Role of personalized medication training in improving efficacy and adherence to a topical therapy in psoriatic patients

Abstract

Background: Poor adherence to topical therapy, defined as the degree to which patients use medication as prescribed by their healthcare provider, represents a frequent cause of poor treatment outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of individualized medication training on efficacy, adherence and patient satisfaction to 4 weeks of a topical therapy in psoriasis.

Methods: All enrolled psoriatic patients were given a prescription for calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate gel once daily and were randomly assigned to one of the two following groups with a 1:1 allocation ratio. Patients in group 1 and group 2 underwent an initial visit, including the physical examination and provision of information by the dermatologist. Patients in group 2 also received an additional 20 min of individualized medication training. Efficacy, adherence and patient satisfaction were evaluated after 4 weeks of treatment.

Results: We enrolled 104 consecutive patients with psoriasis: patients in group 2, who were trained, had a significant improvement at week 4 in BSA, PASI, dPGA and higher PPQ score, and were more adherent compared to those in group 1 who were not trained.

Conclusion: Individualized medication training on the correct application of a topical therapy from a healthcare professional may improve patients’ adherence, treatment tolerability and clinical outcomes.

Keywords:

• Psoriasis
• topical therapy
• adherence

Acknowledgements

The authors thank David Harrison for editing the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.