BACKGROUND

Psoriasis is associated with several comorbidities and patients with psoriasis are more often obese than individuals without psoriasis. The excess disease burden is important to consider in choice of and response to treatment at the individual level.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether patient characteristics differ across biologics for patients initiating biologic therapy and for patients still on biologic therapy after 1 year. Also, to quantify and compare the use of topical therapy among patients still on biologic therapy after 1 year.

METHODS

This nationwide cohort study compared characteristics of patients prescribed adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, secukinumab or ustekinumab for treatment of psoriasis by using data from the Danish registries.

RESULTS

In the ustekinumab group, patients were younger and fewer had psoriatic arthritis. Patients treated with secukinumab and ustekinumab were less frequently co-treated with conventional systemics and topical therapy. All other patient characteristics such as sex, smoking and comorbidities other than psoriatic arthritis were similar across the biologic cohorts.

CONCLUSION

These results highlight the need to better understand which factors to consider when prescribing biologics to patients with psoriasis.