Background: Patients with psoriasis have to cope with their disease for many years or even throughout their entire life. To provide optimal care, a disease management programme was developed. This programme consisted of disease education, disease management training, and psychological support, together with topical treatment.
Objective: To test a disease management programme in dermatological practice, to assess patients' satisfaction with this programme, and adherence to topical treatment. Additionally, disease severity and quality of life were assessed.
Methods: An initial clinical investigation was conducted in 10 European treatment centres. A total of 330 patients were included. Patient satisfaction, adherence, disease severity and quality of life were measured with study-specific and standardized self-report questionnaires.
Results: Patients reported a high degree of satisfaction with the programme, and a high degree of adherence to topical treatment. Disease severity and quality of life significantly improved. The programme was well received by the participating professionals.
Conclusions: The disease management programme was found to be a useful tool in the management of psoriasis, providing patients with relief from the burden of psoriasis in everyday life. A full-scale evaluation is recommended.