Many Patients With Vitiligo Do Not Receive Treatment

WEDNESDAY, May 13, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- A considerable proportion of patients with vitiligo do not receive treatment during follow-up, according to a study published online May 6 in JAMA Dermatology.Roni Adiri, Ph.D., from Pfizer Pharmaceutical Israel in Herzliya Pituach, and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with vitiligo and characterize treatment patterns. Data were included for 24,949 patients, of whom 1,329 (5.3 percent) had a body surface area (BSA) assessment at index.Most of the patients were aged 18 years and older (88.2 percent) and female (56.3 percent). The researchers found that at index, the face was the most frequently affected area, impacting 32.9 percent of patients with reported locations of vitiligo. Across BSA groups, 27 to 32 percent (without BSA assessment and with ≤10 percent BSA involvement, respectively) did not receive treatment for vitiligo during follow-up. Topical and oral corticosteroids and topical calcineurin inhibitors/phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors were the most common treatments, with no substantial differences observed across BSA groups during follow-up. Children and adolescents were more often prescribed topical treatments, while systemic treatments were more often prescribed to adults. The median duration of therapy varied from 1.8 to 4.1 months for first and second lines of treatment."High variability in treatment sequences and short therapy duration were also observed, highlighting the lack of standardized treatment approaches," the authors write.Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical and dermatology companies, including Pfizer, which funded the study.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Many Patients With Vitiligo Do Not Receive Treatment

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