Comparative effectiveness of biological therapies on improvements in quality of life in patients with psoriasis

BACKGROUND: Evidence of the comparative effectiveness of biological therapies for psoriasis on health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) in routine clinical practice is limited. OBJECTIVES: To examine the comparative effectiveness of adalimumab, etanercept and ustekinumab on HRQoL in patients with psoriasis, and to identify potential predictors for improved HRQoL. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study in which changes in HRQoL were assessed using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and EuroQoL‐5D (EQ‐5D) at 6 and 12 months. Multivariable regression models were developed to identify factors associated with achieving a DLQI of 0/1 and improvements in the EQ‐5D utility score. RESULTS: In total, 2152 patients with psoriasis were included, with 1239 patients on adalimumab, 517 on etanercept and 396 on ustekinumab; 81% were biologic naïve. For the entire cohort, the median (interquartile range) DLQI and EQ‐5D improved from 18 (13–24) and 0·73 (0·69–0·80) at baseline to 2 (0–7) and 0·85 (0·69–1·00) at 6 months, respectively (P < 0·001). Similar improvements were achieved at 12 months. At 12 months, multivariable regression modelling showed that female sex, multiple comorbidities, smoking and a higher DLQI or a lower EQ‐5D utility score at baseline predicted a lower likelihood of achieving a DLQI of 0/1 or improvement in the EQ‐5D. Compared with adalimumab, patients receiving etanercept, but not ustekinumab, were less likely to achieve a DLQI of 0/1. There was no significant difference between the biological therapies in EQ‐5D improvement. CONCLUSIONS: In routine clinical practice biological therapies produce marked improvement in HRQoL, which is influenced by the choice of biological therapy, baseline impairment in HRQoL, lifestyle characteristics and comorbidities. These findings should help inform selection of optimal biological therapy for patients related to improvements in HRQoL.