Exploring determinants of psoriasis patients' treatment choices: a discrete-choice experiment study in the United States and Germany

BACKGROUND: Biologic psoriasis treatments are differentiated by efficacy, side effects, and other attributes.

OBJECTIVE: Determine attributes of biologic psoriasis treatments that drive patients' treatment choices.

METHODS: Respondents (USA: n = 300; Germany: n = 300) with moderate-to-severe psoriasis completed a discrete-choice-experiment survey, choosing between hypothetical treatments characterized by attributes with varying levels: chance of clear skin after 1 year, number of first-year treatments, first-year risks of mild-to-moderate injection site reaction (ISR) and serious infection, and years of proven efficacy/safety.

RESULTS: U.S. respondents most valued clear skin (conditional relative importance, 1.88; p < .05). While other attributes were of generally equivalent importance, ISR risk outweighed serious-infection risk (1.06 vs. 0.70; p < .05). German respondents placed greatest importance on ISR risk (1.61; p < .05) and clear skin (1.49; p < .05).

LIMITATIONS: Respondents evaluated hypothetical treatments and were recruited from web panels.

CONCLUSIONS: Clear skin and ISR risk are stronger drivers of treatment choice than injection frequency and infection risk.