Treatment adherence in psoriatic patients during COVID-19 pandemic: Real-world data from a tertiary hospital in Greece.

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic raised questions both in dermatologists and in patients about the use of immunosuppressive medications. Although dermatologic societies recommend the continuing of psoriatic systemic therapies and biologics, little is known about treatment adherence in psoriatic patients during COVID-19 outbreak. Medication self-management may feel burdensome to patients with psoriasis due to the nature of treatments and many of them face additional challenges as they may suffer from comorbidities. Under these already difficult conditions, COVID-19 disease puts extra pressure on individuals and may undermine adherence. Acknowledging treatment non-adherence as a consequence of conflicting goals may help to find the reasons for but, most important, solutions to non-adherence especially during public health crises. The objective of our study was to evaluate the adherence of psoriatic patients in traditional systemic treatment as well as biologics and identify possible influencing factors of drug interruption during COVID-10 pandemic.