Impact of ixekizumab treatment on skin‐related personal relationship difficulties in moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis patients: 12‐week results from two Phase 3 trials

Background Psoriasis symptoms may decrease quality of life for patients. Skin‐related personal relationship difficulties in psoriasis patients are common, under‐reported and poorly understood. Objective To assess the effect of ixekizumab (IXE) treatment on skin‐related personal relationship difficulties in patients with moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis. Methods Pooled data (N = 2570) on skin‐related relationship problems were obtained from two large phase 3 trials (UNCOVER‐2 and UNCOVER‐3) in patients with moderate‐to‐severe plaque psoriasis randomized to subcutaneous placebo (PBO, N = 361), etanercept (ETN; 50 mg twice weekly, N = 740), or 80 mg IXE as one injection every 4 (IXEQ4W, N = 733) or 2 weeks (IXEQ2W, N = 736) for 12 weeks, following a 160‐mg initial dose. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) Personal Relationships Domain (PRD) (Items 8 and 9) was used to assess how much the skin caused any personal relationship difficulties at weeks 0, 2, 4 and 12. Improvement was compared for IXE vs PBO and ETN using logistic models. Factors associated with improvement were assessed using multiple linear regressions. DLQI Item 9, assessing sexual difficulties, was also analysed separately. Results PRD scores (mean ± standard deviation) at baseline were similar across all treatment groups (PBO: 1.8 ± 1.9; ETN: 1.7 ± 1.8; IXEQ4W: 1.6 ± 1.8; IXEQ2W: 1.7 ± 1.8). Treatment with IXE rapidly and significantly improved the mean PRD score compared to PBO and ETN (P