title: Supervised four-week heliotherapy alleviates the long-term course of psoriasis.
abstract: The long-term effects of psoriasis heliotherapy were studied in a randomized cross-over trial with a 2-year follow-up. We allocated 95 patients randomly to receive a 4-week heliotherapy course, either at the onset or in the middle of the follow-up period. After a highly significant immediate alleviation of psoriasis about 50% of the patients still had a reduction of psoriasis 6 months later and about 25% one year later. A favourable carry-over treatment effect was still observed during the second follow-up year. Taking advantage of the cross-over design, the effect of heliotherapy was calculated to be statistically significant during the first follow-up year, and the apparent long-term alleviation of psoriasis after the heliotherapy was reflected in a significant period effect. The alleviation of psoriasis was accompanied by a significant decrease in the use of antipsoriatic treatments.
authors.affiliation: Social Insurance Institution, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Snellman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aromaa
authors.forename: C T
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Jansén
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lauharanta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reunanen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jyrkinen-Pakkasvirta
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luoma
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Waal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006370:Heliotherapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome