TOPLINE:

A multinational survey revealed significant gaps in psoriasis care, where less than half of patients understood the potential future effects of the disease, and most dermatologists and primary care practitioners (PCPs) agreed that psoriasis could have negative long-term effects on patients' lives.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted cross-sectional online market research surveys with 1679 participants across 29 countries in Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and South America between September and October 2021.
• Participants included 487 patients with psoriasis, 574 dermatologists, and 618 PCPs.
• Separate questionnaires were developed for dermatologists, PCPs, and patients with psoriasis, containing both quantitative tick-box answers and qualitative open-ended responses to get insights into the broad experience of psoriasis and features of cumulative life course impairment (CLCI) relevant to clinical assessments and management.

TAKEAWAY:

• Patients with psoriasis reported frequent effects on daily activities; 38% indicated that healthcare professionals did not use questionnaires or scales to measure the severity of the disease, and 49% reported that such tools were not used for the assessment of quality of life.
• Less than half of patients had a high understanding of the potential long-term effects of psoriasis, and 44% were unaware that clear or almost clear skin was a realistic treatment target.
• Almost half of healthcare professionals (49% of dermatologists and 45% of PCPs) considered psoriasis to be of early onset when presented before age 15.
• Although most dermatologists (69%) and PCPs (61%) recognised that psoriasis could have long-term effects on patients' quality of life, only 60% of dermatologists used treatment goals to manage patients with psoriasis.

IN PRACTICE:

"There is evidence that the potential future impact of psoriasis or CLCI is not well considered/incorporated into psoriasis assessment in practice worldwide, and many clinicians do not prioritise clearance of high-impact areas," the authors wrote, highlighting the importance of "education for all people with psoriasis, dermatologists, and PCPs to build awareness of the need to assess and monitor all elements that contribute to CLCI in the individual."

SOURCE:

The study was led by Raymond Matthews, Dermatology Centre, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust and Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, Manchester National Institute for Health and Care Research Biomedical Research Centre, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, England. It was published online on November 22, 2025, in Dermatology and Therapy.

LIMITATIONS:

The study did not collect information on disease severity from participants with psoriasis, limiting the analysis of CLCI burden based on disease severity. The selection process may have introduced bias, as participants were randomly requested to complete the survey and may not have fully represented the overall psoriasis population. The frequency of medical appointments varied widely, and it was unclear which physicians were primarily responsible for managing patients with psoriasis. The financial incentive for completing the questionnaire may have led to the self-selection of people with a higher CLCI burden. Additionally, recall bias may have occurred because participants might not have accurately remembered specific details from prior appointments.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded by AbbVie. All except two authors reported receiving grants from or serving as consultants for AbbVie and various other organisations. One of them reported serving as an editorial board member and another as an editor-in-chief of Dermatology and Therapy. Full disclosures are noted in the original article.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.