Impact of body mass index on retention rates of anti-TNF-alfa drugs in daily practice for psoriasis

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease which often requires life-long treatment. OBJECTIVE/AIM: Our objective was to assess the role of the body mass index (BMI) on the retention rates of anti-TNF-alfa therapies in patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective observational study of psoriasis patients included in local databases of three public Italian hospitals. All patients, who received anti-TNF-alfa treatment in referral centers, were included. Only patients with at least 1-year follow-up were considered eligible. The outcome was the conservation of the treatment at 1 and 2 years of follow-up. RESULTS: 194 patients were enrolled. 307 treatment courses with a minimum follow-up of 12 months and 263 with a follow-up of 24 months were analyzed. The proportion of patients receiving the same treatment at months 12 and 24 was 67.43% and 42.21%, respectively. The proportion steadily decreased with increased values of BMI. CONCLUSIONS: The overall efficacy of TNF-alfa inhibitors diminishes with time. The BMI affects the long-term survival rate of anti-TNF-alfa in psoriatic patients. A high BMI can be considered a potential predictor of drug discontinuation.