Current management of psoriasis in the United Kingdom: patterns of prescribing and resource use in primary care

• Published in: International journal of clinical practice (Esher) Vol. 59; no. 11; pp. 1260 - 1267
• Main Authors: Gillard, S. E., Finlay, A. Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK; Malden, USA Blackwell Science Ltd 01.11.2005; Blackwell
• Subjects: Administration, Cutaneous; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child, Preschool; Dermatologic Agents - administration & dosage; Dermatology; Drug Prescriptions - statistics & numerical data; Female; General aspects; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Polypharmacy; Practice Patterns, Physicians' - statistics & numerical data; prescriptions; primary care; Primary Health Care - statistics & numerical data; Psoriasis; Psoriasis - drug therapy; Psoriasis. Parapsoriasis. Lichen; resource use; Retrospective Studies; systemic agents; topical therapies; United Kingdom; United Kingdom; Europe; Skin disease; Psoriasis; Primary health care; Use; Resource; systemic agents; Systemic; resource use; Medicine; Local administration; Chemotherapy; Clinical management; Treatment; Medical prescription; primary care; topical therapies; Disseminated; prescriptions
• ISSN: 1368-5031; 1742-1241
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1368-5031.2005.00680.x

Summary The current management of psoriasis and its associated resource use in the United Kingdom (UK) was investigated in this retrospective analysis of 789,300 primary care patient records. Most patients with psoriasis (94%) were managed on topical psoriasis agents only, 4% were prescribed systemic psoriasis agents and 2% had no recorded psoriasis treatment at all during the 12‐month study period. Co‐medications to treat physical or psychological comorbidities were required by 22% of patients. Referral rates into secondary care were low, 5% of patients prescribed systemic psoriasis agents and 0.7% of patients prescribed topical psoriasis agents had secondary care appointments documented in their medical records. This study demonstrates that most patients with psoriasis in UK primary care are managed on topical agents even though there are surrogate markers, such as resource use and co‐medication prescriptions, which indicate that their psoriasis is not optimally controlled.