Abstract
Background: While
phototherapy is a well-established
treatment for many
dermatoses , data from the
literature regarding its use in
elderly patients are quite limited.
Objective: In this study, we aimed to determine the
phototherapy indications in geriatric
patients and to evaluate the
effectiveness and reliability of
phototherapy in this group.
Methods: This study included 95
patients of 65 years of age and older
who were treated in our
phototherapy unit between 2006 and 2015. The data for this study were collected retrospectively from
patient follow-up forms in the
phototherapy unit.
Results: Phototherapy was administered to 28 (29.5%)
patients for
mycosis fungoides , 25 (26.3%)
patients foplaque type
psoriasis , 12 (12.6%)
patients for palmoplantar
psoriasis , 12 (12.6%)
patients for generalized
pruritus , and 18 (19%) for other
dermatoses . Of the
patients , 64.2% had received a narrowband UVB (NB-UVB), 21.1% oral
psoralen UVA (PUVA), and 14.7% local PUVA
treatment . A complete response was achieved in 76.9-85.7% of the
mycosis fungoides and in 73.71-100% of the
psoriasis vulgaris
patients treated with NB-UVB and PUVA, respectively. All the
patients with generalized
pruritus were treated with NB-UVB, and 80% of these
patients achieved significant improvement. The
erythema rate was found to be 0.43% per session for NB-UVB
treatment and 0.46% per session for PUVA
treatment as a side effect. Study
limitations: The limitations of our study are that it was retrospective and the remission durations of the
patients are not known.
Conclusion: This study showed that
phototherapy is effective and reliable in the
elderly population with proper
dose increases and close follow-up.