COVID-19 Knowledge in Patients with Psoriasis Receiving Systemic Therapy: A Questionnaire Study
Keywords:
COVID-19, coronavirus, pandemic, psoriasisAbstract
Introduction: Little is known about how much the impact of patient-driven issues on the treatment of psoriasis in the amid of COVID-19 pandemic.
Objectives: We aimed to investigate the COVID-19 knowledge of the patients with psoriasis receiving systemic therapy in the pandemic.
Methods: The patients who received systemic treatment for psoriasis presented to our dermatology outpatient clinic were enrolled in the study. A questionnaire measuring the level of knowledge about COVID-19 and psoriasis was administered to patients. Demographics and disease characteristics of patients were recorded.
Results: A total of 183 patients with psoriasis were enrolled in the study. Of the patients, 33.9% thought that psoriasis exposes them to a risk of getting COVID-19, 30.6% declared that psoriasis treatment exposes them to a risk of getting COVID-19, and 59.6% were worried about getting COVID-19. The treatment discontinuation rate was 42.1%. The patients with high scholarity level showed more anxiety and discontinued their treatment.
Conclusions: The patients with psoriasis did not have adequate knowledge of the effect of both psoriasis itself and its treatment on COVID-19 during the pandemic. The patients on biologic therapy tend to discontinue their treatment based upon the physician's recommendation, whereas those on conventional therapy mostly on their own will. Clinicians should provide patients with not only as much information as they need but also current evidence about both psoriasis and COVID-19.
References
2. Organization WH. COVID-19 continues to disrupt essential health services in 90% of countries. 2021; https://www.who.int/news/item/23-04-2021-covid-19-continues-to-disrupt-essential-health-services-in-90-of-countries. Accessed 10/25/2021.
3. Georgakopoulos JR, Yeung J. Rate of Patient-Driven Biologic Treatment Discontinuation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2 Academic Hospital Clinics at the University of Toronto. J Cutan Med Surg. 2020;24(4):424-425. doi: 10.1177/1203475420930226.
4. Bragazzi NL, Riccò M, Pacifico A, et al. COVID-19 knowledge prevents biologics discontinuation: Data from an Italian multicenter survey during RED-ZONE declaration. Dermatol Ther. 2020;33(4):e13508. doi: 10.1111/dth.13508.
5. Megna M, Ruggiero A, Marasca C, Fabbrocini G. Biologics for psoriasis patients in the COVID-19 era: more evidence, less fears. J Dermatolog Treat. 2020;31(4):328-329. doi: 10.1080/09546634.2020.1757605.
6. Bardazzi F, Loi C, Sacchelli L, Di Altobrando A. Biologic therapy for psoriasis during the covid-19 outbreak is not a choice. J Dermatolog Treat. 2020;31(4):320-321. doi: 10.1080/09546634.2020.1749545.
7. Conforti C, Giuffrida R, Dianzani C, Di Meo N, Zalaudek I. Biologic therapy for psoriasis during the COVID-19 outbreak: The choice is to weigh risks and benefits. Dermatol Ther. 2020;33(4):e13490. doi: 10.1111/dth.13490.
8. Gelfand JM, Armstrong AW, Bell S, et al. National Psoriasis Foundation COVID-19 Task Force guidance for management of psoriatic disease during the pandemic: Version 2-Advances in psoriatic disease management, COVID-19 vaccines, and COVID-19 treatments. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2021;84(5):1254-1268. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2020.12.058.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Sinan Özçelik, Fatma Arzu Kılıç
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Dermatology Practical & Conceptual applies a Creative Commons Attribution License (CCAL) to all works we publish (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Authors retain the copyright for their published work.
How to Cite
Share
