A Study to Evaluate Ustekinumab in Patients With Plaque Psoriasis in Asia-Pacific Countries

Epidemiologic characteristics of the psoriasis patients (sex, age, race, weight height, and peak disease level) will be determined.

The PASI is a physician-administered assessment tool used for assessing and grading the severity of psoriatic lesions and their response to therapy. The PASI produces a numeric score that can range from 0 (no disease) to 72 (maximal disease).

NAPSI is used for assessing and grading the severity of nail psoriasis. Each nail is divided with imaginary horizontal and longitudinal lines into quadrants. Each nail is given a score for nail matrix psoriasis (0 to 4) and nail bed psoriasis (0 to 4) depending on the presence of any of the features of nail psoriasis in the 4 quadrants as: 0 (none), 1 (present in 1/4 nail), 2 (2/4), 3 (3/4), and 4 (4/4). Each nail gets a matrix score and a nail bed score, the total of which is the score for that nail (0 to 8). Each nail is evaluated, and the sum of all the nails is the total NAPSI score. The sum of the scores from all nails is 0 to 160 (Both finger and toe nails are included). Higher scores indicate worsening.

The EQ-5D (EuroQol Group) is a validated generic measure of quality of life which usually requires less than 1 minute to complete (eg, the questionnaire may have questions about mobility, self care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression.

The DLQI is a patient-completed 10-item questionnaire that, in addition to evaluating overall quality of life, can be used to assess 6 different aspects that may affect quality of life: symptoms and feelings, daily activities, leisure, work or school performance, personal relationships, and treatment. The aim of this questionnaire is to measure how much your skin problem has affected your life over the last week. For each of 10 questions patient has to select one of the following options: very much, a lot, a little, not at all.

The PBI is a patient-defined benefit assessment tool. Patients select personally relevant treatment goals from a standardized list of benefits called the Patient Needs Questionnaire. An evaluation of those treatment goals assessed by the patient is captured on the Patient Benefit Questionnaire. The PBI is calculated from the sum of the benefit items weighted by their respective relevance divided by the number of relevant items. Values between 0 (no benefit) and 4 (maximal patient-defined benefit) are possible.

Number of patients achieving PASI 50, 75, and 90 response (ie, at least 50%, 75% and 90% improvement in PASI) will be evaluated at Weeks 16, 28, and 52.

Number of patients achieving a DLQI improvement (reduction) of greater than or equal to 5 points will be evaluated at Weeks 16, 28, and 52.

Number of patients achieving a score of 0 or 1 in DLQI will be evaluated at Weeks 16, 28, and 52.

Number of patients achieving an improvement in PBI will be evaluated at Weeks 16, 28, and 52.

Number of patients with comorbidities (obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and heart disease) will be evaluated at baseline, Weeks 16, 28, and 52.

Health economic impact using the HE/MRU questionnaire will be assessed at baseline, Weeks 16, 28 and 52. Patients will be asked to complete a HE/MRU questionnaire to collect information on demographics, medical insurances, and use of biologic agents and phototherapy. Sections 1 and 2 are completed by the patient. Sections 3 and 4 are completed by the physician.

A 10 cm VAS will be used to assess work, school, or at home productivity. Patients will be asked to put a single vertical line across the horizontal line at the spot that they feel best reflects the answer to the question, "How much has your disease affected your daily productivity at work, school or at home in the past 4 weeks?" The score will be recorded as a measurement of the placement of the patient's mark on a 10 cm scale.