OBJECTIVES: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a chronic inflammatory skin disease with debilitating symptoms including severe pain, significantly impacts patients’ quality of life (QoL) and work productivity.^1,2

The association between increasingly stringent clinical responses and improvements in patient-reported outcomes at 1 year was examined in patients with moderate to severe HS.

METHODS: Patients from the phase 3 BE HEARD I&II studies³ were pooled regardless of treatment (placebo, bimekizumab 320mg every 2 or 4 weeks), and grouped by achievement of mutually exclusive HS Clinical Response (HiSCR) levels (<50% improvement from baseline [<HiSCR50]; 50–<75% improvement [HiSCR50–<75]; 75–<90% improvement [HiSCR75–<90]; 90–100% improvement [HiSCR90–100]) at Week 48.

Associations between achievement of higher thresholds of clinical response and improvements in patient-reported outcomes (HS Symptom Questionnaire [HSSQ] Skin Pain, HS QOL [HiSQOL] total score, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment [WPAI] percent overall work impairment) at Week 48 were assessed. Observed case data are reported.

RESULTS: Of the 1,014 patients randomized in BE HEARD I&II, 720 (71.0%) completed Week 48.

At Week 48, patients achieving more stringent HiSCR thresholds demonstrated numerically greater mean (95% confidence intervals) improvements from baseline in HSSQ Skin Pain response (<HiSCR50: −1.5[−1.9,−1.1]; HiSCR50–<75: −2.3[−2.9,−1.7]; HiSCR75–<90: −3.0[−3.4,−2.6]; HiSCR90–100: −3.8[−4.1,−3.5]).

Similar improvements were seen for the HiSQOL total score (<HiSCR50: −9.8[−11.9,−7.7]; HiSCR50–<75: −12.6[−15.2,−10.1]; HiSCR75–<90: −14.4[−16.3,−12.5]; HiSCR90–100: −15.8[−17.1,−14.5]).

WPAI Percent Overall Work Impairment by achievement of higher HiSCR thresholds were <HiSCR50: −16.3[−22.0,−10.7]; HiSCR50–<75: −12.5[−20.4,−4.7]; HiSCR75–<90: −19.7[−25.2,−14.1]; HiSCR90–100: −19.8[−24.0,−15.6]) at Week 48.

CONCLUSIONS: Achievement of increasingly stringent clinical responses were associated with greater improvements in pain and health-related QoL at 1 year in patients with HS, with some improvements also seen in work productivity.

REFERENCES:

1. Zouboulis CC. Dermatology 2015;231:184–90; 2. Chernyshov PV et al. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2019;33:1633–43; 3. Kimball AB. Lancet 2024;403: 2504–19.