Pediatric Patients With Psoriasis Less Likely to Receive Conventional and Biologic Therapy

Fewer pediatric patients with psoriasis received conventional systemic or biologic therapies compared with adult patients with psoriasis, according to research presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), held from March 25 to 29, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Investigators compared real-world treatment use between adult and pediatric patients with psoriasis with use of the Adelphi Psoriasis Disease Specific Programmes surveys.

Survey data from adults (aged ≥18 years) were collected from August to November 2018, and data from pediatric patients (aged ≤17 years) were obtained from December 2019 to April 2020. The physician-completed questionnaires included information regarding patient demographics, disease severity, remission status, and current treatments.

A total of 690 pediatric patients (mean age, 12.3 years; 51.7% women) and 626 adult patients (mean age, 45.2 years; 49.0% women) were included. The pediatric patients had a mean time since diagnosis of 1.8 years, and adult patients had a mean time since diagnosis of 6.3 years.

Among patients who had a complete treatment history, fewer pediatric patients, compared with adults, received conventional systemics as first-line treatment (2.2% vs 9.2%; P <.001), second-line treatment (8.7% vs 16.1%; P <.001), and third-line treatment (2.0% vs 11.2%; P <.001).

Fewer pediatric patients vs adult patients also received biologic agents as first-line treatment (5.5% vs 14.8%; P <.001), second-line treatment (16.4% vs 51.7%; P <.001), and third-line treatment (44.0% vs 69.5%; P <.001).

The differences between adult and pediatric patients in treatment patterns occurred regardless of disease severity, it was noted.

According to the researchers, the findings may reflect less comfort among health care professionals with using systemic therapies in children or limited treatment options for pediatric patients, especially for biologic agents, at the time of the survey.

“Future studies are needed to examine treatment patterns and physician preferences due to an expansion in biologic options for adult and pediatric patients,” stated the investigators.

Disclosure: This study was sponsored by Eli Lilly and Company. Some of the study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.

Reference

Swanson E, Malatestinic W, Lucas J, et al. Exploring differences in treatment patterns between adult and pediatric psoriasis patients: results from a real-world survey. Presented at: the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) 2022 Annual Meeting; March 25-29, 2022. Poster 34647.