The quality of life in Italian psoriatic patients treated with biological drugs

Aim. Psoriasis is well known to affect negatively daily activities, occupational and sexual functioning. We investigated whether the improvement of skin lesions obtained with the new biological drugs comes with by a better Quality of Life (QoL) as well. Methods. Thirty patients with moderate to severe psoriasis treated with either anti-CD11 (13) or anti-TNF-alpha molecules (17) were studied. The severity of skin lesions was evaluated, before the biological therapy (T(0)) and after 6 months of treatment (T(1)), by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and the Body Surface Area (BSA). QoL was evaluated by the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and by the Psoriasis Quality of Life (PsoriQoL). Results. DLQI and PsoriQoL mean scores shifted significantly from 16.5 to 2 respectively. At T(0), PASI did not correlate significantly with DLQI. DLQI nor PsoriQoL correlated significantly with age and with the duration of the disease. PASI correlated significantly with DLQI of patients with arthropathy only, but did not with DLQI of patients without arthropathy. At T(1), PASI was not correlated significantly with DLQI nor with PsoriQoL. Conclusion. The patient affected by psoriasis suffer an impairment of their QoL which seems to be independent from many obvious factors, such as age, duration of the disease and, mainly, its severity. QoL does not seem to be influenced significantly by arthropathy. Other factors, of both genetic or environmental nature, could play a determinant role in depriving psoriatics of a good QoL.