Phone app linked to improved psoriasis treatment adherence

(HealthDay)—A smartphone app is associated with improved short-term adherence to a cutaneous foam treatment for psoriasis, according to a study published online April 14 in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Mathias Tiedemann Svendsen, M.D., from Odense University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues randomized 122 patients who were receiving once-daily medication (calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate [Cal/BD] cutaneous foam) to either no app (66 patients) or an app intervention (68 patients).

The researchers found that at week four, more patients in the intervention group were adherent to Cal/BD cutaneous foam versus patients in the non-intervention group (65 versus 38 percent: P = 0.004). The intervention group also showed a greater reduction in psoriasis severity, as measured by the Lattice System Physician's Global Assessment, versus the non-intervention group at week four (P = 0.047). While not reaching statistical significance, a similar effect was seen at weeks eight and 26.

"The app significantly improved adherence rates and reduced psoriasis severity in the short-term," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including LEO Pharma, which supported the study.

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