TY - JOUR
T1 - Identifying Unmet Care Needs and Important Treatment Attributes in the Management of Hidradenitis Suppurativa
T2 - A Qualitative Interview Study
AU - Willems, Damon
AU - Hiligsmann, Mickael
AU - van der Zee, Hessel H.
AU - Sayed, Christopher J.
AU - Evers, Silvia M. A. A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank all participating HCPs, patients, and patient advocacy groups (Irish Skin Foundation, Hidradenitis Patiënten Vereniging, Hope for HS, Patientforeningen HS Danmark & Association Acne Inversa SchwAIz) for their contribution to this study. The authors also thank Antonio Leitão for his contribution to this study as a student researcher at Maastricht University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Background and Objective Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory skin disease with a profound effect on patients' quality of life. The patient's journey to manage HS is often complex and unsuccessful, which motivates the aim of this research to gain insight into unmet needs and relevant treatment considerations from the perspective of patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs). Methods Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients and HCPs experienced in treating HS to understand the perceived unmet care needs and to identify important treatment attributes. Prioritization of the five most important treatment attributes allowed elicitation of their relative importance. Results Interviews with 12 patients and 16 HCPs revealed 16 areas of unmet needs either related to treatment outcomes or the care process and 13 important treatment attributes. The most frequently reported unmet needs by patients and HCPs were lacking quality-of-life improvement, low treatment effectiveness, inadequate pain control, low disease awareness, and delayed diagnosis. Patients expressed unique concerns relating to pain management, access to HS specialists, and wound care guidance and costs, which HCPs did not. Treatment attributes related to effectiveness were considered most important by patients and HCPs. Patients additionally emphasized a strong preference for improved pain management. Conclusions Current HS treatments and care processes leave patients and HCPs with a high level of unmet need. It is critical to consider patients' and HCPs' perspectives when designing appropriate HS care as perceived unmet needs differ. Further quantitative preference elicitation studies are needed to assess the trade-offs between important care needs and treatment attributes.
AB - Background and Objective Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory skin disease with a profound effect on patients' quality of life. The patient's journey to manage HS is often complex and unsuccessful, which motivates the aim of this research to gain insight into unmet needs and relevant treatment considerations from the perspective of patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs). Methods Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients and HCPs experienced in treating HS to understand the perceived unmet care needs and to identify important treatment attributes. Prioritization of the five most important treatment attributes allowed elicitation of their relative importance. Results Interviews with 12 patients and 16 HCPs revealed 16 areas of unmet needs either related to treatment outcomes or the care process and 13 important treatment attributes. The most frequently reported unmet needs by patients and HCPs were lacking quality-of-life improvement, low treatment effectiveness, inadequate pain control, low disease awareness, and delayed diagnosis. Patients expressed unique concerns relating to pain management, access to HS specialists, and wound care guidance and costs, which HCPs did not. Treatment attributes related to effectiveness were considered most important by patients and HCPs. Patients additionally emphasized a strong preference for improved pain management. Conclusions Current HS treatments and care processes leave patients and HCPs with a high level of unmet need. It is critical to consider patients' and HCPs' perspectives when designing appropriate HS care as perceived unmet needs differ. Further quantitative preference elicitation studies are needed to assess the trade-offs between important care needs and treatment attributes.
KW - PSYCHOSOCIAL IMPACT
KW - PREFERENCES
KW - PSORIASIS
U2 - 10.1007/s40271-021-00539-7
DO - 10.1007/s40271-021-00539-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 34368925
SN - 1178-1653
VL - 15
SP - 207
EP - 218
JO - The Patient: patient-centered outcomes research
JF - The Patient: patient-centered outcomes research
IS - 2
ER -