Improvement of self‐administration experience with a new injection device: Real‐life experience with risankizumab in patients with psoriasis

TL;DR

A new injection device improved the experience for psoriasis patients needing frequent injections, reducing anxiety and increasing satisfaction.

Contribution

The study demonstrates that prefilled pens improve self-injection experience and adherence in psoriasis patients with needle phobia.

Findings

Patients reported significantly higher SIAQ scores after switching to prefilled pens.

Satisfaction and self-confidence scores increased over 12 weeks of using the new device.

User-friendly devices may enhance treatment adherence in patients with chronic dermatologic conditions.

Abstract

Trypanophobia or “needle phobia” represents a potential hindrance to the effective management of chronic diseases whenever an injectable therapy might be required, especially in case of frequent administrations. Psoriasis, a chronic dermatologic disease, can be effectively treated with biologic drugs administered subcutaneously. Thankfully, anti‐IL‐23 drugs require few administrations per year and are available in prefilled pens that hide the needle, thus representing a convenient option in patients with trypanophobia.

An observational multicentric study was conducted on patients with moderate‐to‐severe psoriasis who were treated with 75 mg × 2 risankizumab prefilled syringe therapy for more than 6 months and reported a loss of efficacy measured by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) from PASI 90 to PASI 75 attributed to a reduction of adherence due to trypanophobia. The patients were switched to 1 prefilled pen of risankizumab 150 mg and asked to fill out the Self‐Injection Assessment Questionnaire (SIAQ) before and after the injection at week 0 and at the following administration after 12 weeks. Subjects scored each item of the SIAQ on a 5‐point scale, scores were later transformed from 0 (worst experience) to 10 (best experience).

Twenty‐two patients were enrolled. The mean SIAQ predose domain scores were 5.5 for feelings about injection, 6.2 for self‐confidence, and 6.4 for satisfaction with self‐injection. After dose scores were higher (> 8.5) for each of the six domains at Week 0 and even higher after 12 weeks (> 9.0).

User‐friendly devices, such as prefilled pens, and a lower number of injections improved patient satisfaction in a group of patients with psoriasis on treatment with biologic drugs. We believe that treatment adherence could be positively influenced by such changes in the way of administration of a biologic treatment.

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