Evaluation of Quality of Care and Guideline-Compliant Treatment in Psoriasis Development of a New System of Quality Indicators

Background: To date, no standardised indicators for quality of care in psoriasis have been published. Aims: Development and testing of evidence-based indicators of quality of care and guideline compliance in the treatment of psoriasis. Methods: Indicators of process and outcome quality were extracted and evaluated in a Delphi process according to international standards. The primary reference was the S3 German guideline for psoriasis treatment. The indicators were validated with data from two nationwide studies on psoriasis care involving 1,511 and 2,009 patients. Results: Eight quality indicators were defined: mean PASI, mean quality of life (Dermatology Life Quality Index; DLQI), proportion of patients with PASI > 20, with DLQI > 10, with previous systemic treatment, with PASI > 20 and systemic treatment, with inpatient treatment, and number of work days lost. All indica tors proved suitable for application, and were sensitive to change. Conclusions: Guideline-based indicators of quality of care are useful in the analysis of health care and the implementation of treatment guidelines in psoriasis. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel