Useful Instruments for Psoriasis Patients’ Follow‐Up in Teleconsultation Setting

Background Teledermatology may be beneficial for psoriasis management and a working group of the International Psoriasis Council recently outlined the value of patient questionnaires in teledermatology. Objectives Identify instruments that could optimise psoriasis evaluation when completed before a teleconsultation; assess patients’ and dermatologists’ opinions on the value of teleconsultations for managing psoriasis. Methods This pilot, cross‐sectional study, conducted in France (November 2021 to February 2022), invited patients with psoriasis and dermatologists experienced in treating psoriasis to complete an electronic survey assessing (1) the value of teleconsultations, (2) the attributes of 12 specific instruments to be used in teleconsultation, and (3) the most important attributes of these instruments. The specific instruments assessed covered three domains: (1) Quality of life (QoL; Dermatology Life Quality Index [DLQI] and SKINDEX), (2) disease severity and involvement (Simplified Psoriasis Index [Sa‐SPI]; self‐evaluations of pruritus, pain and severity on a numeric rating scale [NRS]; self‐evaluations of involved body surface area [BSA]; skin photography), (3) rheumatology (Psoriatic Arthritis Uncluttered Screening Evaluation [PURE], Early ARthritis for Psoriatic patients [EARP], Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool [PEST]). Results From 100 patients responding, 75 were willing to be followed in a telemedicine setting. The instrument attributes most important to patients were helping overcome teleconsultation limitations and facilitating conversations. From 51 dermatologists responding, 42 were in favour of telemedicine. The instrument attributes most important to dermatologists were clinical relevance and helping overcome teleconsultation limitations. Patients and dermatologists ranked the tools similarly, with DLQI scoring higher than SKINDEX, and Sa‐SPI scoring higher than self‐evaluations of pruritus, pain and severity, self‐evaluations of involved BSA and skin photography. There was no preferred rheumatology questionnaire. Conclusions Our data suggest DLQI, Sa‐SPI, and a rheumatology questionnaire could be useful to complete and transmit before a dermatology teleconsultation. These findings should be validated in a larger study with global participants.