21 Dec Are Co-Morbidities in Psoriasis Overestimated?

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Psoriasis

Mohammed D. Saleem, MD
Department of Dermatology
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem, NC

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Over the past several years’ numerous research studies have identified comorbidities associated with psoriasis. The media has increasingly become involved with presenting these findings and patients commonly bring these concerns to their physician. The comorbidities are often presented as a relative risk, which can overestimate the effects of exposure, especially when the incidence is quite small. Comorbidities presented as attributed risk or number needed to harm might be a better measure for understanding the association between an exposure and comorbidity.

We found that although the relative risk of many diseases associated with psoriasis can be quite large, the attributed risk was small.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: The goal of the manuscript was to highlight the importance of critically interpreting the risk of comorbidities associated with psoriasis that are presented in the literature. At times the relative risk can be very high, but the attributed risk may not be. By understanding relative and absolute measures of risk, the physician can better provide the patient with accurate information pertaining to psoriasis and its comorbidities.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Response: We recommend that authors include relative and absolute measures of risk when presenting comorbidities associated with psoriasis.

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Response: Although we focus on psoriasis in our article, the concept is applicable to most other diseases and exposures.

MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.

Citation:

Relative versus absolute risk of comorbidities in patients with psoriasis
Saleem, Mohammed D. et al.
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology , Volume 0 , Issue 0 ,
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2016.11.037

Note: Content is Not intended as medical advice. Please consult your health care provider regarding your specific medical condition and questions.

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Last Updated on December 21, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD