Patient Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Psoriasis Vulgaris and Factors Believed to Trigger the Disease: a Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study With 1621 Patients.

Introduction: Due to the chronic recurrent nature of psoriasis vulgaris (PV) and lack of definitive treatment for the disease, patients often resort to alternative treatments. Physicians seem to have low awareness of this issue. Objectives: To elicit the perceptions of 1,621 PV patients on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and examine factors reported to worsen PV. Methods: The patients sociodemographic characteristics, Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), disease duration, and severity were recorded, and the patients CAM use was questioned in detail. The patients were also asked about factors that worsened PV and their experiences with a gluten-free diet. Results: Of the patients, 56.51% had used CAM. The mean age, illness duration, PASI scores and DLQI of those using CAM were significantly higher. CAM use was significantly higher in those with facial, genital involvement, and arthralgia/arthritis. The patients mostly referred to CAM when PV became severe (46.4%). Of the CAM users, 45.52% used herbal topicals. The physicians of 67.03% did not inquire whether they used CAM. Of the participants, 37.73% considered that stress worsened their disease. Gluten-free diet did not affect PV symptoms in 52.22%. Conclusions: Patients CAM use is often overlooked by dermatologists. Our results showed that more than half the patients used CAM and did not share this information with their physicians. Therefore, the awareness of physicians should be increased and patients should be asked about the use of CAM and directed to the appropriate medical treatment options by physicians.

Habits of Using Social Media and the Internet in Psoriasis Patients.

Introduction: Psoriasis significantly affects the patients quality of life, which often leads patients to seek online information about this disease. Objectives: To explore the habits of patients with psoriasis related to their use of social media (SM) and the internet to obtain information about their disease. Methods: 1,520 patients completed the survey and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire. The Psoriasis Area Severity Index scores (PASI) and clinical data of the patients were recorded by their physicians. Results: Of the 1,114 patients that reported using SM and internet, 48.38% regularly and 31.14% sometimes resorted to obtain information about psoriasis. The use of SM and internet for psoriasis was statistically significantly higher among young people (P = 0.000), those with university or higher education (P = 0.009), higher DLQI (P = 0.000) and PASI (P = 0.011) scores, facial (P = 0.050), scalp (P = 0.032), hand (P = 0.048), genital (P = 0.001) and inverse (P = 0.000) involvement, and arthralgia/arthritis (P = 0.006). The participants mostly used the Google (86%) and Facebook (41%). More than half of the participants (62.8%) expected dermatologists to inform society that psoriasis is not contagious. Conclusions: Internet and SM being widely available and offering substantial information to be easily accessed make it very attractive for patients to use these platforms to investigate diseases, including psoriasis. If what is presented on SM conflicts with what the physician says, patients mostly trust the latter, but at the same time, they tend not to share the results of their online inquiries with their physicians.