Psoriasis care during the time of COVID-19: real-world data on changes in treatments and appointments from a German university hospital

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 poses significant challenges for care of patients with chronic inflammatory skin diseases including psoriasis. OBJECTIVES: To investigate changes in treatment and/or appointments for psoriasis patients in a German university hospital due to the pandemic. MATERIALS & METHODS: A postal survey was conducted between May 15 and June 15, 2020. Potential determinants of changes were analysed with descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Out of 205 respondents, 19.5% missed an appointment and 9.8% changed therapy due to the pandemic. Treatment alterations were encouraged by patients (50%) and physicians (40%), whereas cancellations of appointments mostly occurred on patients’ request (70%). Several patient-related key drivers of changes, including sociodemographic, disease- and health-related characteristics were identified. Changes in treatment and appointments were associated with higher psoriasis severity scores and more frequent disease aggravations. CONCLUSION: It is particularly crucial to tailor psoriasis care to individual needs in order to protect the physical and mental well-being of patients during the pandemic. SUPPLEMENTARY DATA: Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at 10.1684/ejd.2021.4016. File S1: Questionnaire. Table S1: Treatment changes due to the pandemic.