The Results of a Psoriasis Patients’ Satisfaction Survey (Second Report): Analysis of Factors Contributing to Overall Satisfaction

Abstract

To improve the quality of treatment for psoriasis, we conducted a questionnaire-based survey for both physicians and patients with psoriasis using a larger study group than our previous survey and collected 685 cases for analysis. The questionnaire addressed a broad range of topics, including symptoms, degree of improvement, stress, and satisfaction evaluated by patients themselves. Among the results, 9.8% of the respondents reported that they were “very satisfied” with their current treatment. With regard to overall satisfaction, encompassing treatment effectiveness, and improvement in stress, 19.0% of the responders reported that they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied.” Similarly to the previous survey, the treatment satisfaction of Japanese patients with psoriasis was confirmed to be low. Moreover, 67.4% of the respondents reported that they felt stress which was caused by “skin lesions being looked at” and “treatment with topical agents.” As factors contributing to overall satisfaction, “the patients’ evaluation of symptomatic improvement” was the most influential factor with 52% of the contribution rate, suggesting the importance of an understanding of symptomatic improvement from the patient’s perspective. Our data also suggest that there was a gap between the physicians’ and patients’ evaluations of improvement. These results indicate that qualitative improvement in psoriasis treatment requires an understanding of patient satisfaction, derived by asking such questions as how they feel about their improvement in skin symptoms or whether their skin symptoms and topical treatment impair their daily life. The understanding of patient satisfaction gained should then serve as the basis for selecting the appropriate treatment, thereby achieving patient-oriented therapy for psoriasis and a high level of patient satisfaction.