Ustekinumab decreases work limitations, improves work productivity, and reduces work days missed in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis: Results from PHOENIX 2

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of ustekinumab on productivity and work limitations among 1230 psoriasis patients treated with ustekinumab 45 mg or 90 mg or placebo during the Phase III PHOENIX 2 trial. Methods: The self-administered Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) was used to determine the on-the-job limitations at baseline and weeks 12 and 24. Productivity was assessed using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and the number of work days missed due to psoriasis was recorded. Results: At baseline, work limitations and productivity were similar across treatment groups. At week 12, improvement in productivity VAS scores was significantly (p < 0.001) higher in the 45 mg (72.6%) and 90 mg (71.4%) ustekinumab groups versus placebo (no change), and the proportion of patients who missed work days was significantly lower (2.0% for each ustekinumab group vs 8.3% for placebo; p < 0.001). Mean improvements from baseline to week 12 were greater with ustekinumab than with placebo for WLQ domains, including time management (6.6/9.1 vs –0.7), mental-interpersonal (7.8/7.5 vs –1.1), and output demands (6.8/7.0 vs –1.1) (p < 0.001 for ustekinumab 45 mg/90 mg vs placebo). Improvements were maintained through week 24. Conclusions: Ustekinumab 45 mg or 90 mg significantly increased productivity, reduced work days missed, and improved work limitations compared with placebo in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

Key words::

• patient-reported outcomes
• productivity
• psoriasis
• randomized controlled trials
• ustekinumab
• work

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Centocor, Inc. The authors wish to thank C. Arnold for her editorial assistance and writing support of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest: K. Reich and L. Guenther have served as investigators, advisors, and consultants to Centocor, Inc. B. Schenkel is an employee of Johnson & Johnson and owns stock in Johnson & Johnson. N. Zhao is an employee of Johnson & Johnson Worldwide Health Economics. P. Szapary is an employee of Centocor R&D, Inc. and owns stock in Johnson & Johnson. M. Augustin served as an investigator and an advisor for Centocor, Inc. M. Bourcier served as an investigator for Centocor, Inc. He has served on advisory boards and as an investigator for Eli-Lilly, Amgen-Wyeth, Abbott, Schering Canada, Novartis, Astellas Leo, Graceway, Jansen-Ortho, and Cipher. R. Langley has served as an investigator and advisor to Centocor, Inc., Abbott, and Amgen-Wyeth. He serves as a speaker to Centocor, Inc. and Amgen-Wyeth. He has served as an advisor to Ortho-Biotech and as an investigator for Pfizer.