Disease and treatment characteristics in geriatric psoriasis: A patient survey comparing age groups

Abstract

Little is known about psoriasis in geriatric patients, whereas treating this growing population can be chal-lenging due to comorbidities, comedication and physical impairments. To compare disease and treatment characteristics of psoriasis patients ≥65 years old with patients <65 years old, a self-assessment survey was sent to all members of the Dutch Psoriasis Association (n=3,310). In total, 985 (29.7%) patients returned the survey, 414 (43.6%) respondents were ≥65 years old. Patients ≥65 years old had experienced erythrodermic psoriasis significantly more frequently than patients <65 years old, other disease characteristics were high-ly comparable. Despite a significantly higher prevalence of comorbidities and comedication use in patients ≥65 years old, no difference was seen between the age groups regarding systemic antipsoriatic treatment (38.3% in ≥65 years old vs 42.3% in <65 years old; p=0.219). Remarkably, treatment-related side-effects were reported more frequently by patients <65 years old. In conclusion, age alone should not be a limiting factor in psoriasis management, and proper attention must be paid to additional patient-related factors.