Comparison of home versus office-based phototherapy for psoriasis

Summaries 2 min 14

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Created On: 08/01/2025

While office-based phototherapy has been cost-effective for treating psoriasis, access can be challenging. Patients prefer home-based options, but clinical data, especially for those with darker skin tones, has been limited. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of office vs. home-based narrowband UV-B phototherapy for psoriasis management.

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Key take away

For psoriasis, home-based narrowband UV-B phototherapy is as efficient as office-based treatments, offering greater convenience and patient satisfaction.

Background

Method

The Light Treatment Effectiveness study, a pragmatic, open-label, multicenter randomized clinical trial, included 783 participants (aged 12 and older) with plaque or guttate psoriasis. They were randomly assigned to receive either home-based phototherapy with a UV-B machine with guided mode dosimetry or traditional office-based treatment for 12 weeks, followed by 12 weeks of observation.

Result

At week 12, both home-based and office-based phototherapy resulted in improvements in skin clarity and quality of life, with home-based phototherapy illustrating similar efficacy to office-based treatment. Home-based phototherapy was linked with improved treatment compliance, more episodes of persistent erythema, and decreased financial burden, as shown in Table 1 below.

Both therapies were well-tolerated, with no patients discontinuing due to unwanted effects.

Conclusion

Home-based phototherapy proved to be an effective alternative to office-based treatment for psoriasis, minimizing patient burden while maintaining efficacy in everyday clinical settings.