TUESDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDay News) -- A treatment combining betamethasone dipropionate and calcipotriene was more effective for treating scalp psoriasis than either component alone, according to research published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Gregor B.E. Jemec, M.D., of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, and colleagues analyzed data from 1,505 individuals with mild to very severe scalp psoriasis who were randomized to daily treatment with a formulation containing both betamethasone dipropionate and calcipotriene, either of the drugs alone, or a control group receiving only the vehicle used in the other formulations. The study lasted eight weeks.

The proportion of subjects achieving absent or very mild disease was significantly greater in the combination treatment group (71.2 percent) compared to the betamethasone dipropionate group (64 percent), the calcipotriene group (36.8 percent) and the vehicle group (22.8 percent), the researchers report. Most adverse events weren't judged to be related to the treatment, and the proportion of patients with at least one adverse event was higher in the calcipotriene group, the report indicates.

"Cosmetic acceptability has been identified as an important concern in any topical treatment, as it may impact patient compliance, which in turn will affect treatment efficacy. The development of the scalp formulation vehicle, which is less greasy and messy than an ointment and is washed out of the hair more easily, addresses this concern," the authors write.

The study was sponsored by LEO Pharma A/S. Jemec and several co-authors disclosed financial relationships with a number of companies, including LEO Pharma.

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