In a real-practice setting, a cohort of plaque psoriasis patients was found to be highly satisfied with the topical treatment of calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate (Cal/BD) in a study published in Dermatologic Therapy. Researchers undertook this multicenter, observational prospective cohort 4-week study to investigate participant's satisfaction with cutaneous foam of Cal/BD in a real-life dermatological clinical practice.

The LION study recruited adults (mean age 55.6 years, 59.4% males) having plaque psoriasis on the scalp and/or body. The primary endpoint was therapy satisfaction as evaluated by the 9-item Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM-9). Secondary endpoints included: (i) preference over prior therapies by Patient Preference Questionnaire (PPQ), (ii) alteration in disease state by Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), and (i) factors associated with satisfaction from Cal/BD foam therapy.

In total, 256 patients were eligible. The psoriasis severity was found to be severe in 4.7%, mild in 52% of participants, and moderate in 43.3%. In 36.7% of people, scalp involvement was noted to be present. About 80.5% of patients had received prior antipsoriatic therapies. The TSQM-9 median scores for effectiveness, convenience, and global satisfaction is illustrated in Table 1:

After four weeks, the mean (Standard Deviation, SD) PASI value dropped from 7.3 (4.8) to 2.1 (2.7), as shown in Figure 1:

Majorly, its effectiveness and convenience were appreciated, regardless of whether patients were treatment naïve or had already been treated for psoriasis. In addition, those who had received prior therapies reported a high preference for the Cal/BD foam over previous topical therapies.

Greater than 90% of individuals previously treated for psoriasis found the Cal/BD foam to be more effective, easier to use and well-tolerated than prior topical therapies at PPQ. Thus, the study yielded real-life evidence of better satisfaction, convenience and efficacy of Cal/BD for treating plaque psoriasis, with an objective improvement in PASI.