Young patients with risk factors prevalent in the elderly – Differences in comorbidity depending on severity of psoriasis: A nationwide cross-sectional study in swedish health registers

Abstract

Background: Association between psoriasis severity and cerebro-and cardiovascular comorbidities has rarely been investigated. Aim: We aimed to investigate differences in cerebro-and cardiovascular comorbidities by psoriasis severity. Materials and methods: Using Swedish nationwide health-care registers, new adult users of anti-psoriatic drugs (2007–2013) with a recorded diagnosis of psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis or a filled prescription for calcipotriol were included. Psoriasis severity was based on the type of anti-psoriatic treatment (topical/mild, non-biologic systemic/moderate-to-severe, and biologics/ severe). Age standardized prevalence rates of cerebro-and cardiovascular comorbidities and their risk factors were compared between the groups. Results: We found that severe psoriasis patients (N=2147) were younger than moderate-to-severe (N=11,919) or mild (N=70,796) patients (median 44, 52, and 55 years). Prevalence of hypertension was 29.9, 32.6, and 36.5, myocardial infarction was 2.5, 2.3, and 1.8, and stroke was 2.4, 2.2, and 1.1 in mild, moderate-to-severe, and severe psoriasis patients, respectively. Diabetes prevalence was 7.6 in mild, 8.0 in moderate-to-severe, and 10.7 in severe psoriasis. Conclusion: Myocardial infarction and stroke were less common in patients with severe psoriasis while, despite being younger, they had a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension. © 2018 Hajiebrahimi et al