Table 4.
Topical and systemic treatments and impressions of their helpfulness as reported by the patients, by the Level of Diagnostic Certainty
| TOPICAL THERAPY | Level 1 n=50 |
Helpfula,b,c | Level 2 n=15 |
Helpfula,b,c | Level 3 n=30 |
Helpfula,b,c | Level 4 n=5 |
Helpfula,b,c |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emollients | 45 (90%) | 34 (76%) | 12 (80%) | 8 (67%) | 23 (77%) | 9 (39%) | 3 (60%) | 1 (33%) |
| Corticosteroids | 38 (76%) | 19 (50%) | 13 (87%) | 5 (38%) | 22 (73%) | 3 (14%) | 3 (60%) | 1 (33%) |
| Urea | 34 (68%) | 11 (32%) | 5 (33%) | 4 (80%) | 7 (23%) | 3 (43%) | 3 (60%) | 1 (33%) |
| Salicylic Acid | 11 (22%) | 5 (45%) | 3 (20%) | 1 (33%) | 3 (10%) | 2 (67%) | 2 (40%) | 1 (50%) |
| Retinoids | 9 (18%) | 4 (44%) | 5 (33%) | 4 (80%) | 4 (13%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Vitamin D Derivatives | 3 (6%) | 1 (33%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Calcineurin Inhibitors | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (7%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| SYSTEMIC THERAPY | ||||||||
| Retinoids | 32 (64%) | 19 (59%) | 6 (40%) | 4 (67%) | 9 (30%) | 4 (44%) | 3 (60%) | 1 (33%) |
| Methotrexate | 21 (42%) | 11(52%) | 7 (47%) | 3 (43%) | 9 (30%) | 2 (22%) | 1 (20%) | 0 (0%) |
| Light Therapy | 13 (26%) | 1 (8%) | 8 (53%) | 0 (0%) | 8 (27%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (20%) | 0 (0%) |
| TNF-α Inhibitors | 10 (20%) | 4 (40%) | 4 (27%) | 0 (0%) | 4 (13%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (20%) | 0 (0%) |
| Other Therapiesd | 3 (6%) | - | 0 (0%) | - | 0 (0%) | - | 1 (20%) | - |
Subjective, patient-reported “helpfulness”
Percentages calculated as a fraction of those who had tried this therapy
Patients were asked as to whether the specific therapy listed was “helpful;” while most patients appeared to have understood the question as pertaining to the improvement of their signs and symptoms of PRP, survey notes indicated that certain patients considered their treatment “not helpful” because it was too time consuming, had too many side effects, etc.
Other systemic therapies reported by the patients included: cyclosporine, antidepressants for pruritus, antihistamines, antibiotics, acupuncture, cerumen softener, restasis ophthalmic drops and over the counter supplements (including: neotigasone, L-glutamine, beta hcl, lipase, DHEA, cortisol manager, adrenal essence, Vitamin A, zyflamend, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, fish oil). The questionnaire did not inquire whether these additional therapies were helpful