Narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy improves the quality of life in patients with psoriasis.

OBJECTIVES: To examine whether narrowband ultraviolet B (NBUVB) phototherapy administration to plaque-type psoriatic patients leads to an improvement in patient's quality of life (QoL).

METHODS: A total of 95 patients with plaque-type psoriasis were recruited in the Outpatient Dermatology Clinics of Qassim University affiliated hospitals, Buraydah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January to October 2010. The NBUVB phototherapy was administrated 3 times a week for 6 months in a standardized fashion. Patients were asked to complete pre- and post-phototherapy Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire. Seventy-two patients were included in the study, while the remaining 23 were excluded, as they had not completed the post-phototherapy DLQI questionnaire. The statistical differences in mean ± standard deviation of QoL were measured using Origin 6.1 software package (one paired two tailed t-test with one way analysis of variance) based on pre- and post-phototherapy questionnaires.

RESULTS: The administration of NBUVB phototherapy to plaque-type psoriasis patients significantly improved the QoL, and was well-correlated with the reduction in psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score. Data showed that DLQI significantly improved in both male and female patients (p=0.00) after NBUVB phototherapy. The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores also significantly improved (p=0.00) with NBUVB.

CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we found that NBUVB phototherapy improves the QoL of plaque-type psoriasis patients.