The promise and challenge of new biological treatments for psoriasis: how do they impact quality of life?

Psoriasis disrupts a patient's work, play, and relationships and impacts how patients view themselves. These effects are measured through the concept of quality of life. The most central feature of the concept of HRQL (health-related quality of life) is that it represents the patient's perspective, helping understand the full impact of the illness on patients' lives. Psoriasis causes a high level of physical impairment, social impairment, emotional distress, occupational interference, and disruptions in leisure activities. HRQL can be measured with a variety of instruments that are acceptable to patients and have demonstrated adequate psychometric properties (e.g., reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change). These include global, skin-specific, and psoriasis-specific measures. Although generic measures are useful in comparing the impact of psoriasis to that of other diseases, skin-specific and psoriasis-specific measures are more sensitive to the impact of the disease and are useful in demonstrating the impact of treatment on the lives of patients with psoriasis. These measures have been used to show the benefits new biologic medications offer our patients. Copyright 2004 Blackwell Publishing, Inc.