Multimorbidity of Psoriasis: A Large-Scale Population Study of Its Associated Comorbidities

Abstract

Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic disease of the skin with a prevalence of 2% in the general population. The high prevalence of psoriasis has prompted the study of its comorbidities in recent decades. We designed a study to determine the prevalence of psoriasis in a large-scale, population-based cohort, to exhaustively describe its comorbidities, and to analyze which diseases are associated with psoriasis. Methods: Retrospective, observational study based on the clinical information contained in the electronic health records of the individuals in the EpiChron Cohort with a diagnosis of psoriasis (31,178 individuals) in 2019. We used logistic regression models and calculated the likelihood of the occurrence of each comorbidity based on the presence of psoriasis (p-value < 0.05). Results: The prevalence of psoriasis was 2.84%, and it was more prevalent in men (3.31% vs. 2.43%). The most frequent chronic comorbidities were disorders of lipid metabolism (35.87%), hypertension (35.50%), and other nutritional-endocrine-metabolic disorders (21.79%). The conditions most associated with psoriasis were (odds ratio; 95% confidence interval) tuberculosis (2.36; 1.24–4.49), cystic fibrosis (2.15; 1.25–3.69), amongst others. We did not find a significant association between psoriasis and hypertension or neoplasms (0.90; 0.86–0.95). Conclusions: This study revealed significant associations between psoriasis and cardiac, psychological, and musculoskeletal comorbidities.