The following is a summary of “Effects of online care on functional and psychological outcomes in patients with psoriasis: A randomized controlled trial,” published in the FEBRUARY 2023 issue of Dermatology by Young, et al.
It was crucial to ascertain yet it remained unclear what effect online care has on patients’ functional and psychological results. For a study, researchers sought to compare the effectiveness of an innovative online health model with traditional in-person care in enhancing the functional status and emotional health of psoriasis patients.
Patients with psoriasis were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive online or in-person therapy in this 12-month randomized controlled equivalence trial. The 5-level EuroQol-5 Dimensions index and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were used to evaluate functional impairment and depression at baseline and every three months.
The online or in-person groups were randomly allocated to a total of 296 patients. Using an equivalence margin of ±8, the between-group difference in overall improvement on the EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale was -0.002 (95% CI, -2.749 to 2.745). The 5-level EuroQol-5 Dimensions score showed a 0 (95% CI, -0.003 to 0.003) between-group difference in overall improvement, falling within an equivalence margin of ±0.1. -0.33 (95% CI, -1.20 to 0.55) was the between-group difference in the total improvement in the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score, falling within an equivalency margin of 3.
For individuals with psoriasis, the online health model was equal to in-person care in terms of reducing functional impairment and depressive symptoms.