Table 2.
Disease characteristics of patients with psoriasis by treatment group prior to FAE therapy initiation
| FAE monotherapy | FAEs + phototherapy | FAEs + MTX | All | P‐value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients initiating FAE therapy, N | 626 | 123 | 110 | 859 | |
| Clinical type of psoriasis ‡ , n (% of N ) | |||||
| Plaque psoriasis | 559 (89.3) | 102 (82.9) | 97 (88.2) | 758 (88.2) | <0.0001* |
| Psoriasis capitis | 133 (21.2) | 19 (15.4) | 16 (14.5) | 168 (19.6) | |
| Nail psoriasis | 97 (15.5) | 28 (22.8) | 34 (30.9) | 159 (18.5) | |
| Psoriatic arthritis | 50 (8.0) | 7 (5.7) | 43 (39.1) | 100 (11.6) | |
| Inverse psoriasis | 62 (9.9) | 19 (15.4) | 12 (10.9) | 93 (10.8) | |
| Guttate psoriasis | 17 (2.7) | 8 (6.5) | 4 (3.6) | 29 (3.4) | |
| Palmoplantar psoriasis | 18 (2.9) | 5 (4.1) | 3 (2.7) | 26 (3.0) | |
| Pustular psoriasis | 9 (1.4) | 3 (2.4) | 4 (3.6) | 16 (1.9) | |
| Erythrodermic psoriasis | 1 (0.2) | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.1) | |
| PGA score at baseline, n (% of N ) | 625 (99.8) | 123 (100) | 110 (100) | 858 (99.9) | |
| Mean ± SD | 3.6 ± 0.8 | 3.7 ± 0.8 | 3.9 ± 0.8 | 3.7 ± 0.8 | 0.01*** |
| Median (range) | 4 (1−5) | 4 (2−5) | 4 (2−5) | 4 (1−5) | |
| PASI score at baseline, n (% of N ) | 497 (79.4) | 100 (81.3) | 84 (76.4) | 681 (79.3) | |
| Mean ± SD | 22.3 ± 8.3 | 23.6 ± 7.9 | 24.9 ± 9.0 | 22.8 ± 8.4 | 0.02** |
| Median (range) | 22 (2.4−49.8) | 23.9 (2.4−42.0) | 25 (2.4−47.3) | 22.5 (2.4−49.8) | |
| Total patients with one or more comorbidities, n (% of N ) | 236 (37.7) | 73 (59.3) | 64 (58.2) | 373 (43.4) | <0.0001* |
| Comorbidity ‡ , n (% of N ) | |||||
| Hypertension | 99 (15.8) | 39 (31.7) | 20 (18.2) | 158 (18.4) | 0.86* |
| T2DM | 39 (6.2) | 14 (11.4) | 6 (5.5) | 59 (6.9) | |
| HLP | 36 (5.8) | 10 (8.1) | 6 (5.5) | 52 (6.1) | |
| CLD | 22 (3.5) | 11 (8.9) | 11 (10.0) | 44 (5.1) | |
| DJD | 24 (3.8) | 6 (4.9) | 9 (8.2) | 39 (4.5) | |
| Alcohol/drug abuse | 20 (3.2) | 7 (5.7) | 4 (3.6) | 31 (3.6) | |
| Mental illness | 17 (2.7) | 5 (4.1) | 4 (3.6) | 26 (3.0) | |
| CHD | 15 (2.4) | 8 (6.5) | 1 (0.9) | 24 (2.8) | |
| Other pulmonary disease | 10 (1.6) | 5 (4.1) | 6 (5.5) | 21 (2.4) | |
| Other chronic gastrointestinal disease | 10 (1.6) | 3 (2.4) | 7 (6.4) | 20 (2.3) | |
| Malignant neoplasm | 10 (1.6) | 3 (2.4) | 2 (1.8) | 15 (1.7) | |
| CKD | 9 (1.4) | 2 (1.6) | 3 (2.7) | 14 (1.6) | |
| HF | 8 (1.3) | 2 (1.6) | 2 (1.8) | 12 (1.4) | |
| COPD | 7 (1.1) | 2 (1.6) | 2 (1.8) | 11 (1.3) | |
| PUD | 6 (1.0) | 2 (1.6) | 1 (0.9) | 9 (1.0) | |
| CVD | 6 (1.0) | 0 | 2 (1.8) | 8 (0.9) | |
| Chronic viral infection | 3 (0.5) | 2 (1.6) | 1 (0.9) | 6 (0.7) | |
| Osteoporosis | 3 (0.5) | 1 (0.8) | 1 (0.9) | 5 (0.6) | |
| T1DM | 1 (0.2) | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.1) | |
| Other disease | 69 (11.0) | 17 (13.8) | 19 (17.3) | 105 (12.2) | |
*P‐value derived from chi‐square test; **P‐value derived from ANOVA; ***P‐value derived from Kruskal–Wallis test (nonparametric analysis of variance).
‡Multiple diagnoses possible.
FAEs, fumaric acid esters; phototherapy, ultraviolet A, ultraviolet B or psoralen + ultraviolet A; MTX, methotrexate; n, number of patients with available data; PASI, Psoriasis Area and Severity Index; PGA, Physician's Global Assessment; SD, standard deviation; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus; HLP, hyperlipoproteinemia; CLD, chronic liver disease; DJD, degenerative joint disease; CHD, coronary heart disease; CKD, chronic kidney disease; HF, heart failure; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; PUD, peptic ulcer disease; CVD, cerebrovascular disease; T1DM, type 1 diabetes mellitus. The PGA scale was defined as follows: 1 = light, 2 = moderate, 3 = moderate‐to‐severe, 4 = severe, 5 = very severe.