title: Improvement of health-related quality of life and adherence to treatment with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel in patients with psoriasis vulgaris.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psoriasis is a common, chronic, recurrent, immune-mediated disorder of the skin and joints. It can have a significant negative impact on the physical, emotional and psychosocial wellbeing of affected patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To measure improvement in health-related QoL (HRQoL) in Greek patients with psoriasis vulgaris after a month of treatment with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel; and evaluate adherence to treatment parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 394 psoriasis vulgaris patients from 16 private dermatological practices in Greece, all treated with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel. They were evaluated at the first visit and after 4 weeks. Moreover, they completed the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), while other data such as disease severity, subjective symptoms and adherence, were collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At week 4, the DLQI median was reduced by 3.5 points from the baseline (p<0.001; baseline and week 4 median: 4.5 and 1.0 respectively). Pruritus and sleep disorders also improved (p<0.001). Furthermore, 90.1% of the subjects fully adhered to treatment, with a 97.1% mean level of compliance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The convincing clinical results, with a distinct improvement in HRQoL, plus the high level of adherence due to its advantageous physical properties, make the calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel formulation an important, effective and well-tolerated topical therapy to treat psoriasis.
authors.affiliation: "Andreas Sygros" Skin Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kontochristopoulos
authors.affiliation: "Andreas Sygros" Skin Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Anargyros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kouris
authors.affiliation: School of Economics and Political Science, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chantzaras
authors.affiliation: "Andreas Sygros" Skin Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petridis
authors.affiliation: School of Economics and Political Science, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yfantopoulos
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001623:Betamethasone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003879:Dermatologic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D005782:Gels; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055118:Medication Adherence / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult; D016903:Drug Monitoring
chemical_list: D003879:Dermatologic Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005782:Gels; C517164:betamethasone dipropionate, calcipotriol drug combination; D001623:Betamethasone; D002117:Calcitriol