A recent retrospective study aimed to identify the most common dermatologic conditions treated with phototherapy in the elderly. Additionally, this study examined the effectiveness and safety of phototherapy in this population and compared the outcomes to 2 similar studies in the United Kingdom and Turkey.

This study recruited patients 65 years and older, who were treated with narrowband UVB (NB-UVB) phototherapy. 

It was noted that psoriasis and dermatitis were the most common skin conditions treated with phototherapy, followed by mycosis fungoides and vitiligo in concurrence with prurigo nodularis. The findings suggested that:

• Phototherapy can be safe and effective for a variety of conditions in elderly patients, and necessitates appropriate post-operative care.
• Elderly patients may need a greater number of phototherapy sessions to obtain comparable outcomes.
• This patient population may require careful adjustments in dosing of concomitant medications.

Source: Cutis. 2021 July;108(01):E15-E21 | doi:10.12788/cutis.0307