Why carry out this study?

Patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis suffer from negative impacts on their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and significant psychosocial disability.

Despite the availability of effective systemic therapy for these patients, many are undertreated, with a global study indicating that nearly 60% of patients fail to reach treatment goals.

A consensus-based treat-to-target approach in psoriasis may better guide clinicians, leading to improved treatment outcomes and patient HRQoL.

The ‘Treat to Target Italia’ project was undertaken by 10 psoriasis experts who developed 20 statements based on a literature review and results of a survey of Italian dermatologists; these statements were then reviewed by a panel of 28 dermatologists using the Delphi process to achieve consensus.

What was learned from the study?

Consensus was reached on all statements, including those on treatment goals defining remission: a 90% improvement from baseline in the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI90 response) or an absolute PASI score of less than or equal to 3.

Dermatologists easily agreed on the treat-to-target strategy for patients with psoriasis that was patient-centred with emphasis on objective measures of disease severity and patient HRQoL, and on treatment safety.