Report: One-Third of Patients With Vitiligo Receive No Follow-Up Treatment

Key Takeaways

• Nearly one-third of patients with vitiligo did not receive treatment following diagnosis in this large US retrospective cohort study.
• Topical corticosteroids, oral corticosteroids, and topical calcineurin inhibitors/phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors were the most commonly used therapies.
• Treatment duration was short and sequencing highly variable, underscoring the lack of standardized long-term management approaches.

Almost one-third of patients with vitiligo did not receive treatment following diagnosis, according to a report in JAMA Dermatology.

Investigators for the large retrospective cohort study published online in JAMA Dermatology found that many patients with vitiligo in the United States did not receive treatment after diagnosis and that treatment duration was generally brief.

Investigators for the large retrospective cohort study analyzed linked claims and electronic health record data from the Komodo Healthcare Map and OMNY Health Foundation databases, identifying 24,949 patients diagnosed with vitiligo between January 2018 and August 2023. Most patients were adult (88.2%) and female (56.3%); 5.3% of patients had documented body surface area (BSA) involvement at index. Among patients with lesion location recorded, the face was the most commonly affected site overall(32.9%).

Across BSA groups, 27% to 32% of patients did not receive any vitiligo-directed treatment during follow-up. The most frequently prescribed therapies included topical corticosteroids, oral corticosteroids, and topical calcineurin inhibitors/phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors. Topical Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, including ruxolitinib cream, were also used in some patients. Pediatric patients were more likely to receive topical therapies; adults more frequently received systemic treatment.

Among treated patients, 64% progressed to a second line of therapy and 43% to a third line. Median treatment duration ranged from 1.8 to 4.1 months.

“In this cohort study, a high proportion of patients with vitiligo did not receive treatment after diagnosis,” the authors wrote. “High variability in treatment sequences and short therapy duration were also observed, highlighting the lack of standardized treatment approaches.”

Source: Adiri R, et al. JAMA Dermatology. 2026. Doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2026.0971