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Observational Study
. 2024 Dec;51(12):1634-1640.
doi: 10.1111/1346-8138.17385. Epub 2024 Jul 19.

Real-world safety and efficacy of biologics in elderly patients with psoriasis: A multicenter observational study

Chika Ohata  1 , Hisataka Anezaki  2 , Tetsuji Yanase  3   4 , Eri Katayama  5 , Sakae Kaneko  6 , Kanami Saito  7 , Mariko Yamane  8 , Sei Nakamaru  9 , Noriko Tsuruta  10 , Fusako Okazaki  11 , Kotaro Ito  12 , Satoko Kikuchi  13 , Yuta Koike  14 , Takuya Miyagi  15 , Kazunari Sugita  16 , Takeshi Nakahara  17 , Daiki Takezaki  18 , Hiroshi Saruwatari  19 , Yuichi Yoshida  20 , Kentaro Yonekura  21 , Yuko Higashi  22 , Yu Sawada  23 , Yuko Chinuki  24 , Kazuki Yamaguchi  25 , Shinichi Imafuku  26
Affiliations
Observational Study

Real-world safety and efficacy of biologics in elderly patients with psoriasis: A multicenter observational study

Chika Ohata et al. J Dermatol. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Clinical trials of biologics have frequently excluded elderly patients, resulting in inadequate data on their safety and efficacy. Additionally, evidence of their safety and efficacy remains limited, despite some real-world studies. To assess the safety and efficacy of biologics in elderly patients with psoriasis, we compared these outcomes in younger patients using data from the West Japan Psoriasis Registry (WJPR). The WJPR consists of approximately 30 facilities in Western Japan, including various healthcare settings. This study enrolled 1395 patients who participated in the 2022 follow-up survey of the WJPR and were either using or had used biologics during the survey. These included 456 patients in the elderly group (≥65 years) and 939 patients in the younger group (<65 years). Treatment-ending adverse events (TEAEs) occurred in 15.8% and 11.3% of elderly and younger patients, respectively. The incidence rate per 1000 patient-years (PY) for TEAEs was significantly higher in elderly patients than in younger patients (32.9 vs 23.2, p = 0.0234). Infectious diseases were more prevalent in the elderly group than the younger group; however, no significant difference in the frequency of infectious diseases was found between the two groups (p = 0.0807). Malignant neoplasms occurred significantly more frequently in the elderly group than in the younger group (p = 0.0169). Our results indicate a few concerns about infection when prescribing biologics to elderly patients. Biologics were effective for both elderly and younger patients. We found no significant differences in the proportion of patients with a body surface area score ≤3%, Physician's Global Assessment score 0/1, or Patient's Global Assessment score 0/1, as well as in the mean Dermatology Life Quality Index and the Itch Numerical Rating Scale between the younger and the elderly groups. Overall, our results confirm the appropriateness of using biologics in elderly patients with regard to safety and efficacy.

Keywords: efficiency; elderly patients; infection; psoriasis; safety.

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References

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