Quality of Life and Work Productivity Impairment among Psoriasis Patients: Findings from the National Psoriasis Foundation Survey Data 2003–2011

OBJECTIVE To ascertain impairment in quality of life and work productivity among patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. DESIGN From 2003 through 2011, the National Psoriasis Foundation collected survey data from patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis via email and telephone correspondences. SETTING Survey data were collected from psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis patients in the general community in the U.S. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Quality of life focusing on emotional impact (anger, frustration, helplessness, etc.) and physical impact (pain, pruritus, physical irritation, etc.); employment status. PATIENTS The surveys were performed through random sampling of participants from a database of over 75,000 patients. RESULTS From 2003 to 2011, 5,604 patients completed the surveys. Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis affected overall emotional wellbeing in 88% of patients, and they interfered with enjoyment of life in 82%. Most patients reported experiencing anger (89%), frustration (89%), helplessness (87%), embarrassment (87%), and self-consciousness (89%). Many patients also actively concealed physical manifestations of their diseases (83%), and experienced pain (83%) and pruritus (93%) regularly. Of note, 12% of patients were unemployed, and 11% worked part-time. Among unemployed patients, 92% cited psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis as the sole reasons for not working. Among working patients, 49% missed work days regularly due to psoriasis. Compared to patients with mild psoriasis, patients with severe psoriasis have 1.8 times greater odds to be unemployed after adjusting for age and gender (Adjusted OR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.4-2.3). CONCLUSION Patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis continue to experience significant impairment of quality of life and work productivity.