Patient journey pain points in spondyloarthritis and psoriasis: The case of Greece

Abstract

For the diseases spondyloarthritis (SpA) and psoriasis, the patient’s journey commences when the first symptoms present themselves. However, many patients ignore the initial symptoms, until the moment they become unbearable. Additionally, due to GPs/family physicians and primary healthcare providers’ lack of knowledge, both SpA and psoriasis remain underdiagnosed, and patients need to undertake multiple visits and health examinations to get correctly diagnosed. With regard to appropriate treatment, a combination of pharmacotherapy, counselling and education is useful to improve the patient’s quality of life, with healthcare professionals ensuring the patient’s adherence to the therapy. In Greece, the lack of health protocols and health technology assessment procedures create a burden in the screening, diagnosis and treatment of patients with SpA and psoriasis. Based on the aforementioned, the existence of a comprehensive, patient-centred and integrated healthcare system is of crucial importance so that patients with chronic conditions can have quality healthcare, better prognosis and reduced cost of care.

Keywords

• psoriasis
• screening
• healthcare system
• treatments