TY - JOUR TI - Improvement of health-related quality of life and adherence to treatment with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel in patients with psoriasis vulgaris AU - Kontochristopoulos, G. AU - Chantzaras, A. AU - Yfantopoulos, J. AU - Kouris, A. AU - Petridis, A. JO - Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia PY - 2016 VL - 91 TODO - 2 SP - 160-166 PB - Sociedade Brasileira de Dermatologia SN - 0365-0596, 1806-4841 TODO - 10.1590/abd1806-4841.20164476 TODO - betamethasone dipropionate plus calcipotriol; betamethasone; betamethasone dipropionate, calcipotriol drug combination; calcitriol; dermatological agent; drug combination; gel, adult; aged; Article; clinical trial; Dermatology Life Quality Index; disease severity; drug efficacy; drug safety; erythema; female; human; major clinical study; male; middle aged; multicenter study; patient compliance; prospective study; pruritus; psoriasis vulgaris; quality of life; treatment outcome; Wilcoxon signed ranks test; young adult; adolescent; analogs and derivatives; drug combination; gel; Greece; medication compliance; nonparametric test; pathology; psoriasis; psychology; questionnaire; severity of illness index; statistics and numerical data; time factor, Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Betamethasone; Calcitriol; Dermatologic Agents; Drug Combinations; Female; Gels; Greece; Humans; Male; Medication Adherence; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Psoriasis; Quality of Life; Severity of Illness Index; Statistics, Nonparametric; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time Factors; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult TODO - Background: Psoriasis is a common, chronic, recurrent, immune-mediated disorder of the skin and joints. It can have a significant negative impact on the physical, emotional and psychosocial wellbeing of affected patients. Objectives: To measure improvement in health-related QoL (HRQoL) in Greek patients with psoriasis vulgaris after a month of treatment with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel; and evaluate adherence to treatment parameters. Methods: The study included 394 psoriasis vulgaris patients from 16 private dermatological practices in Greece, all treated with calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel. They were evaluated at the first visit and after 4 weeks. Moreover, they completed the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), while other data such as disease severity, subjective symptoms and adherence, were collected. Results: At week 4, the DLQI median was reduced by 3.5 points from the baseline (p<0.001; baseline and week 4 median: 4.5 and 1.0 respectively). Pruritus and sleep disorders also improved (p<0.001). Furthermore, 90.1% of the subjects fully adhered to treatment, with a 97.1% mean level of compliance. Conclusions: The convincing clinical results, with a distinct improvement in HRQoL, plus the high level of adherence due to its advantageous physical properties, make the calcipotriol-betamethasone dipropionate gel formulation an important, effective and well-tolerated topical therapy to treat psoriasis. © 2016 by Anais Brasileiros de Dermatologia. ER -