Healthcare Providers' Perspectives on Nonsegmental Vitiligo Severity, Patient Impact, and Treatment Gaps in the United States and Europe.

Authors

Samantha K Kurosky, Roni Adiri, Tatjana Lukic, Mojgan Sadrarhami, Alexandra Kissling, Gabriela Burgos, Jennifer O'Brien, Iltefat Hamzavi, Richard H Huggins, Viktoria Eleftheriadou, Mauro Picardo, Jose Luis Lopez-Estebaranz, Thierry Passeron, Julien Seneschal, Khaled Ezzedine

Published in

The British journal of dermatology. Aug 01, 2026. Epub Aug 01, 2026.

Abstract

Non-segmental vitiligo (NSV) is a heterogeneous autoimmune disease with wide clinical variability in lesion appearance, location, and disease activity. The impact of vitiligo on the patient is also complex, with clinical, treatment, and inter- and intrapersonal factors shaping the patient's perception of disease severity. Given the complexity of clinical and patient burden, there remains a critical gap in understanding how healthcare professionals integrate these factors into clinical severity assessments and how such assessments inform treatment and management decisions.
Describe how healthcare providers (HCPs) across six countries assess NSV severity and how it informs treatment and management of NSV.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 HCPs (61 dermatologists and 4 nurse practitioners) in the United States (US) and Europe. The interviews covered classifying disease severity and approaches to treating NSV. Interviews were thematically analyzed using a content analysis.
HCPs reported variable definitions of vitiligo severity, often relying on patient-reported QOL, extent of lesions, and lesion location, among other factors. Treatment goals consisted of disease stabilization, repigmentation, and improving QOL. Topical corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors, systemic steroids, topical JAK inhibitors, and phototherapy are regularly used to treat NSV, but with regional differences. Treatment selection is driven disease progression, extent of lesions, and patient burden. However, HCPs noted challenges with current treatments, including access and adherence barriers, safety risks, and a lack of long-term options with durable response. Definitions of treatment success and failure varied across regions, but included repigmentation and positive impact on QOL.
The heterogeneity of NSV shapes HCP assessments of disease severity, treatment decision-making, and evaluations of treatment success. In the absence of standardized disease severity criteria, definitions varied across countries. Although existing treatments can be effective, barriers related to safety, access, and durability limit long-term use. Across countries, HCPs emphasized QOL impacts as central to severity assessment, goal setting, and treatment success, underscoring the need for clinical frameworks that integrate the patient experience and shared decision-making in all aspects of NSV care.

PMID:
42538872
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 01 Aug 2026.

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