Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of home and outpatient narrowband ultraviolet B light (NB-UVB) for the treatment of non-segmental vitiligo.
Methods: A total of 94 patients with non-segmental vitiligo were enrolled. Forty-eight patients were treated with home NB-UVB, and the other 46 patients were treated with outpatient NB-UVB over a period of 6 months. The efficacy, patient quality of life, and adverse events were assessed at month 3 and month 6 after treatment.
Results: There was no significant difference in repigmentation and VASI-reverse (VR) rates between outpatient NB-UVB and home NB-UVB groups. VR was higher in outpatient NB-UVB group at month 3, and similar at month 6. For long-standing vitiligo, VR was higher in the outpatient NB-UVB group compared with home NB-UVB group after 6 months of treatment. In recent vitiligo, the VR was similar between the two groups. Additionally, vitiligo-specific health-related quality-of-life instrument (VitiQoL) score was similar, and the adverse effects were minimal among the two groups.
Conclusions: The efficacy and safety of home NB-UVB and outpatient NB-UVB phototherapy for non-segmental vitiligo were comparable. According to our results, those with long-standing vitiligo may be recommended to receive outpatient NB-UVB phototherapy.
Keywords: efficacy; home NB-UVB; outpatient NB-UVB; safety; vitiligo.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.