Baseline characteristics of patients with psoriasis enrolled in the British Association of Dermatologists' Biologic Interventions Register.

ABSTRACT BODY: The British Association of Dermatologists' Biologic Interventions Register (BADBIR) is a large prospective observational cohort designed to assess the long-term safety of biologic and conventional systemic therapies for severe psoriasis. The aim was to analyse baseline demographics, disease severity, current & previous systemic therapies, and co-morbidities. Baseline data were collected from 146 Dermatology departments in the UK & Ireland. From Sept 2007 - Oct 2013, 7110 patients were registered with 4283 (60%) receiving biologics of whom 51% were on adalimumab, 27% etanercept, 17% ustekinumab & 5% infliximab. In the comparator cohort 44% were on methotrexate, 23% ciclosporin,18% acitretin & 8% fumaric acid esters. 4192 (59%) were male. Mean (±SD) age & disease duration of patients on biologics were 46±13 years & 23±13 years respectively, while patients on conventional therapies had a lower age (44±14 years) & shorter disease duration (19±13 years). Mean BMI for patients on biologics (31±7 Kg/m2) was higher than those on conventional systemic therapies (30±7 Kg/m2). Mean baseline PASI and DLQI scores were higher in patients on biologics compared to those on conventional systemics (17±8 vs 16±8 & 18±8 vs 15±7, respectively). 68% of all patients had co-morbidities & 41% had more than one. The most frequent co-morbidities were hypertension (26%), depression (22%) & psoriatic arthritis (16%). BADBIR is an invaluable resource to study the safety & effectiveness of biologic and conventional systemic therapies in routine clinical practice for severe psoriasis. Understanding differences in baseline characteristics between cohorts will be crucial in undertaking future pharmacovigilance studies.