Epidemiology of Hypertension in Psoriasis: An Analysis of Trends from 2006 to 2023

Abstract

Background: Psoriasis and hypertension (HTN) are known to be closely related. However, at present, no study has systematically examined the epidemiology of this disease pattern on a global scale. Methods: We examined six databases from their inception until November 1, 2023 and used the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess the quality of observational studies. Data analysis was conducted in R. Meta-regression, sensitivity, and subgroup analyses were used to evaluate interstudy heterogeneity. Egger's test and funnel plots were used to evaluate publication bias. Results: We reviewed 200 studies involving 15,010,888 patients. The overall prevalence of HTN among the patients with psoriasis was 32.22%. Overall, South America had the highest prevalence of hypertension among adult patients with psoriasis (52.36%), the three countries with the highest prevalence were Serbia, Singapore and Brazil. The prevalence of mild and severe psoriasis comorbid with HTN was 31.71% [95% CI: 24.40-40.05%] and 33.19% [95% CI: 27.17-39.81%], respectively. The prevalence of HTN in psoriasis vulgaris was 29.71% [95% CI: 25.10-35.15%], while that in psoriatic arthritis was 34.54% [95% CI: 31.27-38.14%]. Conclusion: Patients with psoriatic arthritis are more predisposed to requiring hypertension risk screening than patients with psoriasis vulgaris. More population-based prospective observational studies are required to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the coexistence of hypertension in patients with psoriasis.