A cross-sectional, comparative study of home vs in-office NB-UVB phototherapy for vitiligo
2017. doi:10.1111/phpp.12326

Patients with vitiligo were gathered for a study to compare cost and treatment time of at- home versus clinical based phototherapy treatments. “Mean treatment time for the home group was 22 minutes vs 86 minutes for the in-office group. Annual cost for the home group was $4590 vs $21,270 for the in-office group. The cost of in-office phototherapy performed three times weekly exceeded the cost of home phototherapy after 3 months of treatment.” Home phototherapy has not been utilized in the past due to the misconception that it was inconvenient and expensive. As a result of this study, it is clear that phototherapy in the home may prove to be an exceptional option for vitiligo patients. This is supported by the fact that treatments at home are more convenient and are available at a lower cost to the patients. Both of these result in higher patient satisfaction, as well as improved results.