The impact of COVID-19 pandemic in a cohort of Italian psoriatic patients treated with biological therapies

Background The beginning of 2020 has been marked by COVID-19 pandemic, with a strong impact on several national health systems worldwide. Objective To describe the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in a cohort of Italian psoriatic patients treated with biologics. Methods A telephone survey was conducted in May 4-10 2020 about the Italian lockdown period (March 9-May 3 2020) in a cohort of psoriatic patients treated with biologics, asking about any exposure to COVID-19, disease status, continuation of therapy, work activity and psychological status through Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Results 226 patients were interviewed, with no COVID-19 positive cases. Sixty-three of 226 (27.9%) described worsening of the disease with a correlation to drug withdrawal [43/226 (19%)]. Correlation was also found between the worsening of psoriasis and HADS anxiety, HADS depression, BRS and PSS abnormal scores considered both as categorical and continuous variables. No correlation was found between worsening of psoriasis and work activity. Conclusion Uncertainty about whether biologics could increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection led to drug withdrawal with subsequent worsening of psoriasis. Moreover, psychological status also had a direct influence on the clinical course of the disease.

Automated summary

This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a cohort of Italian psoriatic patients treated with biologics. It found that discontinuation of biologics may lead to worsening of psoriasis, and psychological status also directly influences the clinical course of the disease.