Photo Credit: Alexey Yaremenko
Patient-reported outcomes on HRQOL in psoriasis are limited and require additional validation to properly assess individuals with the condition.
At the 2024 Winter Clinical Dermatology Conference, held January 12-17, 2024, in Honolulu, April W. Armstrong, MD, MPH, presented as part of the session “Clinical and Therapeutic Pearls in Psoriasis.”
Dr. Armstrong recently published several papers–not directly related to this session–that addressed this topic, including one study that examined meaningful, within-patient score change thresholds on the Psoriasis Symptoms and Signs Diary, a validated patient-reported measure. Another study by Dr. Armstrong published in JAMA Dermatology assessed the properties of existing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for measuring HRQOL in patients with psoriasis.
Most PROMs Require Additional Validation
Dr. Armstrong and colleagues systematically reviewed 97 articles with 19 psoriasis-specific, eight skin-specific, and six generic PROMs. They categorized PROMs into three recommendations: (1) PROM recommended for use; (2) PROM required further validation; and (3) PROM not recommended for use.
Based on Consensus-Based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments criteria, most measures received a B recommendation for use, indicating they had potential but required additional validation. According to the study results, the Rasch reduced version of the Impact of Psoriasis Questionnaire received an A recommendation for use due to its sufficient content validity, structural validity, and internal consistency.
Addressing Gaps in Knowledge Through Further Research
The findings indicate “a significant lack of information concerning the quality of HRQOL measures in psoriasis,” wrote Dr. Armstrong and colleagues.
“This gap in knowledge can be attributed to the fact that traditional measures were developed using validation criteria that differ from the current standards in use,” they wrote in JAMA Dermatology. “Consequently, additional validation studies in accordance with contemporary standards will be useful in aiding researchers and clinicians in determining the most suitable measure for assessing HRQOL in patients with psoriasis.”
The American Academy of Dermatology Association provides a collection of joint American Academy of Dermatology/National Psoriasis Foundation clinical guidelines for managing many issues in psoriasis, including various treatment modalities and comorbidities.
