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TOPLINE:
A recent study identified three clinically distinct vitiligo profiles on the basis of Vitiligo Patient Priority Outcomes (ViPPO) responses from real-world patient data. Classes with more severe emotional and social functioning impacts had more severe disease per physician assessment, visible areas of lesion involvement, and work productivity and quality-of-life (QoL) impairment.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers collected data from the Adelphi Real World Vitiligo 2022 Disease Specific Programme for adults and adolescents with vitiligo (aged 12-17 years) in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the US.
- Physicians completed patient record forms containing questions on demographics and clinical characteristics, such as physician-assessed severity, treatment history, and impact assessments.
- Patient-reported outcomes were assessed using the ViPPO questionnaire, Work Productivity Activity Index-Vitiligo questionnaire, Vitiligo-Specific QoL instrument (VitiQoL), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and 5-level EuroQol 5-dimensional (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire.
- A latent class analysis was used to identify distinct classes on the basis of ViPPO response options.
TAKEAWAY:
- Of 530 patients with vitiligo, 64.2%, 24.3%, and 11.5% were grouped into classes 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
- Class 3 reported the most severe emotional/psychological and social functioning impact, whereas classes 1 and 2 reported mild and moderate impacts, respectively.
- Although more patients in classes 1 and 2 had limited extent/mild severity physician-assessed disease, class 3 had a higher proportion of patients with moderate to severe disease, with more than one third having limited extent/mild physician-assessed disease.
- Class 3 demonstrated the highest mean body surface area involvement and highest proportion of patients with face (49.2%) and hand (52.5%) involvement.
- Class 3 reported significantly more impact per VitiQoL, HADS, and EQ-5D-5L scores than class 1.
IN PRACTICE:
“Three clinically distinct profiles of patients with vitiligo were identified on the basis of emotional, psychological, and social functioning responses. In general, classes with more severe impacts had more severe disease per physician assessment, visible areas of lesion involvement, and work productivity and QoL impairment. However, a substantial proportion of patients in class 3 (severe psychological/emotional and social burden) also had limited/mild physician reported disease severity, suggesting that some physicians may be considering only the physical symptoms when assessing disease severity,” the authors wrote.
SOURCE:
This study was led by Kent A. Hanson, Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago. It was published online on April 10, 2025, in Dermatology and Therapy.
LIMITATIONS:
The Disease Specific Programme’s cross-sectional design limited the ability to establish cause-effect relationships. The sample was drawn from consecutive patients seen by the participating dermatologists, potentially overrepresenting patients who consult physicians frequently. Additionally, the survey data may have limitations associated with recall.
DISCLOSURES:
This analysis was funded by Pfizer Inc. The Disease Specific Programme is a wholly owned Adelphi Real World product. Four authors declared being employees of Adelphi Real World. Three authors declared being consultants or employees of and holding stock or stock options in Pfizer.
This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.
