Co-Morbidities in psoriatic versus non-psoriatic patients

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic dermatological disorder which involves inflammatory and immune mechanisms. It affects the outer surfaces of the body including skin, hair and nails. It has been related to extracutaneous manifestations and systemic disorders. The aim of this study is to compare the chronic illnesses, including diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, hypothyroidism and abnormal renal and liver profiles, among patients with psoriasis and patients who had appendectomy. Methods: A case–control study took a place in Riyadh. It included a case group of psoriatic patients and a control group of appendectomy patients. Each one had patients from both genders of all age groups. Data were collected by reviewing patients' charts to obtain demographic information, blood pressure, blood glucose level, lipid profile, kidney function, liver function and thyroid function. Results: A total of 140 patients were included (74 males and 66 females). They have been divided into a case group of psoriatic patients and a control group of appendectomy patients, each had 70 participants. The mean age for both groups was 46 ± 18 and 41 ± 15 years, respectively. The proportion of psoriatic patients having diabetes (64%) was found to be higher than the proportion of control patients (46%) (odds ratio [OR], 2.85; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.12–7.28; P = 0.03). Abnormal renal profile was significantly associated with psoriasis (21%) in comparison to control (3%) (OR, 12.74; 95% CI, 2.28–68.29; P = 0.004). Conclusion: Patients with psoriasis were found to have an increased risk of developing major co-morbid disorders including diabetes, liver and renal function profile abnormalities. This indicates the importance of checking if this group of patients have co-morbid disorders.