21 Jun Psoriasis Patients At Higher Risk of Serious Infections

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Jonathan Silverberg

Dr. Jonathan L. Silverberg MD PhD MPH
Assistant Professor in Dermatology
Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine
Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois

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

Response: Psoriasis is associated with a number of potential risk factors for developing serious infections, including impaired skin-barrier function, immune dysregulation, use of systemic immunosuppressant and biologic treatments. We hypothesized that adults with psoriasis have higher rates of serious infections.
We examined data from the 2002-2012 National Inpatient Sample, which contains a representative 20% sample of all hospitalizations in the United States. We found that psoriasis was associated with multiple serious infections, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, cellulitis, herpes simplex virus infection, infectious arthritis, osteomyelitis, meningitis, encephalitis and tuberculosis. Rates of serious infections increased over all time.

Significant predictors of serious infections in patients with psoriasis included non-white race, lower estimated income quartile, and Medicaid, Medicare, or self-pay insurance status. These findings suggest that poor access to adequate dermatologic care may be associated with higher rates of infections.

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

Response: Patients with psoriasis appear to be at higher risk for multiple serious infections. These infections contribute to increased morbidity, mortality and costs of care. Many of these infections may be preventable with improved access to outpatient dermatologic care.

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

Response: Future research is needed to determine the contribution of specific medications toward the increased risk of infection in patients with psoriasis.

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

Citation:

Serious infections in hospitalized patients with psoriasis in the United States
Hsu, Derek Y. et al.
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology , Volume 0 , Issue 0
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2016.04.005

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