Quality of life and patient benefit following transition from methotrexate to ustekinumab in psoriasis

Background: TRANSIT (NCT01059773) compared immediate and gradual transition from methotrexate to ustekinumab in psoriasis patients via multiple measures, including patient-reported outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate patient perception of treatment benefits in TRANSIT.

Methods: A total of 489 psoriasis patients received ustekinumab, with immediate cessation of methotrexate (Arm 1) or 4 weeks' overlap with decreasing methotrexate dose (Arm 2). Ustekinumab was administered at weeks 0, 4, 16, 28 and 40. Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), EuroQol 5-item (EQ-5D), visual analogue scale (VAS) valuation technique and patient benefit index (PBI) were employed. Mean global PBI and sub-scores were calculated from the sum of the benefit items weighted by their respective relevance at baseline. Patient-relevant benefit was defined as PBI ≥1 (scale: 0 [no benefit] to 4 [maximum benefit]). Correlations of global PBI with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and DLQI were examined.

Results: Relationships between PBI and clinical data were evaluable in 340 patients. The most important treatment goals at baseline included: 'be healed of all skin defects', 'have confidence in therapy', 'get better skin quickly' and 'regain control of the disease'. Benefit in PBI global score was achieved at week 4 by 93% of patients in Arm 1 and 91% in Arm 2. Global PBI scores increased in both Arms between weeks 4 and 52. Global PBI correlated weakly with PASI change from baseline (correlation coefficient range: -0.22 to -0.40), and moderately with DLQI (-0.29 to -0.54). Overall DLQI score was lower than baseline at all times; and the percentage of patients with an overall score of 0 or 1 increased with time. Correspondingly, EQ VAS scores increased with time. DLQI and EQ VAS results were similar between arms.

Conclusions: Regardless of the strategy for transitioning from methotrexate, ustekinumab was associated with rapid and sustained improvement in patient-reported outcomes. PBI appears a suitable tool for assessing patient-relevant treatment benefits in psoriasis patients.