title: Psoriasis is common, carries a substantial burden even when not extensive, and is associated with widespread treatment dissatisfaction.
abstract: The impact of psoriasis on quality of life has been studied in select patient populations. Population-based data detailing the distribution of extent of disease, associated problems in everyday life, and treatment satisfaction for the US population have been lacking. Our population-based survey indicates that approximately 4.5 million adults have been diagnosed as having psoriasis. Most (59%) have little or no involvement, but 650,000 adults have at least three palms of body surface involved and more than 1,000,000 indicate substantial dissatisfaction with their treatment. Only 5% of patients (56,000) who report severe dissatisfaction with current therapy have extensive disease (10 palms). Many individuals with little psoriasis at the time of interview considered the disease to be a large problem in everyday life.
authors.affiliation: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Department of Dermatology, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. rstern@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nijsten
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Margolis
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rolstad
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015995:Prevalence; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires