Non-adherence and measures to improve adherence in the topical treatment of psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic, recurrent immune-mediated skin disease with a 2-3% prevalence in the Western population, which severely affects patients' quality of life and poses a considerable socioeconomic challenge. The majority of individuals have psoriasis in limited areas and topical products are the mainstay of therapy according to existing guidelines. It is known that medication adherence rates are lower for topical treatment than for systemic treatment. Poor medication adherence is a major multidimensional problem for patients with chronic disorders as it is associated with unfavourable treatment outcomes, increased risk for development of concomitant diseases and inefficient use of health resources. Despite four decades of adherence research and the large number of studies that have identified the importance of medication non-adherence, there are relatively few studies reporting and designing effective strategies to improve adherence. The aim of this article was to report and describe non-adherence in the topical treatment of psoriasis, the factors that might contribute to this phenomenon, and which interventions have so far been developed for the management of chronic conditions. This article proposes that given that the barriers to medication adherence are complex and varied, solutions to improve adherence and thus clinical outcomes must be multifaceted and must also provide the possibility to be tailored according to each patient's individual needs. Such an individualized and comprehensive adherence-enhancing intervention would probably enable the successful long-term management of this disabling chronic condition.