Findings among physicians treating patients with a history of moderate-to-severe disease
THURSDAY, Nov. 30, 2017 (HealthDay News) — Physicians rate a high proportion of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) as having inadequate disease control, according to a study published online Nov. 13 in the Journal of Dermatology.
Wenhui Wei, Ph.D., from Sanofi in Bridgewater, N.J., and colleagues characterized disease control among patients with a history of moderate-to-severe AD using data from the 2014 Adelphi U.S. AD Disease Specific Programme. Survey respondents included 202 physicians and 1,064 of their patients (54 percent female; 75 percent white; mean age, 40 years).
The researchers found that the overall inadequate control rate was 58.7 percent. The control rate increased with current AD severity and was 53.4 percent among patients receiving immunosuppressants and 83.4 percent among patients receiving systemic corticosteroids. Inadequately controlled patients had worse disease-specific quality of life, higher level of work impairment, greater itch, and more sleep interference with daily living (all P < 0.05), compared to controls. Factors significantly associated with inadequate control included Hispanic race and symptoms on the head/neck or lower limbs, as well as itch and sleep interference with daily living (all P < 0.05).
“There was a high rate and substantial impact of physician-rated inadequately controlled disease among patients with a history of moderate-to-severe AD, suggesting the need for more effective therapies,” the authors write. “Inadequate control was observed even among patients being treated by dermatologists and allergists.”
Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Sanofi, both of which funded the study.
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