The Development of a Rapid Access Clinic for Psoriasis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Development of a Rapid Access Clinic for Patients with Psoriasis
IRAS ID
242032
Contact name
Christopher Griffiths
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
The Psoriasis Rapid Access Clinic (P-RAC) is being developed to enable newly diagnosed patients with psoriasis to receive early access to appropriate and personalised evidence-based care. This will enable holistic management of their psoriasis and encourage and empower self-care whilst improving their disease related outcomes. Patients will be asked to donate baseline blood samples which will be processed for key biochemical parameters e.g. cholesterol, creatinine as well as sera and DNA (the latter two stored for future research). This will provide a novel opportunity to learn more about the pathophysiology of psoriasis in this group of patients.
Summary of Results
Psoriasis is a common skin disease that affects approximately one person in fifty in the UK. It typically starts in early adulthood. People with psoriasis are at increased risk of developing psychological distress, heart disease and arthritis. Psoriasis is not just a skin disease, but a complex chronic condition.
We designed, ran and evaluated a rapid access clinic for people recently diagnosed with psoriasis in North-West England. We aimed to treat people over 16 years old who had developed psoriasis within the previous two years, and had never had tablet, injection or light therapy for their psoriasis. The aim of the study was to identify and recruit people to the rapid access clinic.
Fifty-three patients aged 16 to 76 years were reviewed in the clinic, of whom 39 met the criteria. Just over half were female. Most individuals had received their diagnosis less than two years before the study. Almost 90% had psoriasis affecting at least one part of the body which is considered high impact. We found that a high proportion of people coming to clinic already had conditions that would put them at high risk of a heart attack or stroke. Just over a third of people reported symptoms of anxiety and almost a quarter showed signs of depression. 69.2% (27/39) were currently employed and 48.1% (13/27) reported that psoriasis affected their ability to do their work effectively.
We were able to recruit young adults who already had quite severe psoriasis plus other previously undetected important medical conditions. We believe that seeing people in a specialist rapid access clinic like this, much sooner after diagnosis with psoriasis than usual, will improve physical, psychological, and social outcomes and reduce the distress and burden to the individual, and to society.
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REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0596
Date of REC Opinion
2 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion