Real-life effectiveness of once-daily calcipotriol and betamethasone dipropionate gel vs. ointment formulations in psoriasis vulgaris: final analysis of the 52-week PRO-long study

Background Topical therapies are the mainstay of treatment for psoriasis vulgaris. The fixed combination of calcipotriol (Cal) 50 mu g/g plus betamethasone 0.5 mg/g (as dipropionate; BD) is a first-line topical treatment and available as a gel or ointment. The use of these fixed combination products was compared in PRO-long, a long-term noninterventional study, for which interim results (4 and 12 weeks) have previously been reported. Objective To describe and compare patients' perspectives on the fixed combination gel and ointment formulations; to include efficacy, adherence behaviour, treatment satisfaction and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) aspects during long-term real-life psoriasis management. Methods PRO-long was a multicentre, prospective, observational, 52-week study of patients prescribed fixed combination Cal/BD gel or ointment in clinical practice. For final analysis the following were assessed at weeks 24, 36 and 52: differences in the proportion of patients with 'mild'/'very mild' disease according to patient's global assessment of disease severity, adherence behaviour, treatment satisfaction (nine-item treatment satisfaction questionnaire for medication) and HRQoL (Skindex-29). Results Patients (n = 328) were prescribed once-daily Cal/BD gel (n = 152) or ointment (n = 176). At week 52, a higher proportion of patients reported that the severity of their psoriasis was 'mild'/'very mild' vs. baseline (gel: 60.2 vs. 47.1%; ointment: 58.8 vs. 42.4%), with greater treatment satisfaction reported in patients using gel vs. those using ointment. A higher proportion of patients found the gel 'easy' to use compared with the ointment (66.7 vs. 45.2%). Daily application of treatment took <= 5 min for 86.1% of patients using gel and 71.0% of patients using ointment. Conclusion This real-life study has demonstrated similar effectiveness between the Cal/BD formulations. However, over a 52-week treatment period, patients reported greater treatment satisfaction with the gel, which was considered easier to use, faster to apply and overall a more convenient product.