Mild psoriasis aligns well with patient-reported outcome of acceptable symptoms

Mild psoriasis aligns well with the patient-reported outcome of patient acceptable symptom state (PASS), according to a study published in the April issue of the Journal of Dermatology.

Qiaolin Wang, from Central South University in Changsha, China, and colleagues examined the association of PASS with the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and body surface area (BSA) affected by lesions among 198 patients with psoriasis. PASS was assessed by a binary question relating to the patients' feelings about their symptoms.

The researchers found that most patients with mild psoriasis considered their symptom state acceptable (71.4% and 76.3% based on the PASI and BSA, respectively). The likelihood of reporting an acceptable symptom state was lower in association with female sex and for patients with exposed skin involved (adjusted odds ratios, 0.47 and 0.38, respectively). The threshold for differentiating psoriasis patients in PASS was 3.85 and 2.85% for the PASI and BSA, respectively (area under the curve, 0.67, sensitivity, 0.67, and specificity, 0.60 for PASI; area under the curve, 0.66, sensitivity, 0.79, and specificity, 0.54 for BSA).

"This study accentuated the importance of patient-reported measures, which should be taken into consideration in treatment decision-making processes," the authors write. "We found that patients with mild psoriasis had a high proportion of acceptable status, while female sex and exposed skin involved were factors for less acceptability."