Association of patient-reported psoriasis severity with income and employment

We sought to examine whether psoriasis severity was associated with patient income and employment.

Respondents (> 30 years old) to National Psoriasis Foundation surveys (2003-2005) were classified by reported body surface area as having mild (< 3%), moderate (3%-10%), or severe (> 10%) psoriasis. The relationship between severity and household income (< $30,000 vs > or = $30,000) and employment was assessed by logistic regression, adjusting for age, age at onset, sex, race, and drug treatment.

Probability of low income (< $30,000) was significantly greater among patients with severe disease than those with mild disease (P = .0002). Patients with severe disease had lower probability of working full time compared with patients with mild psoriasis but it was not statistically significant. Significantly more patients with severe psoriasis (17%) versus mild (6%) reported that psoriasis was the reason for not working (P = .01).

Household income was self-reported and may be influenced by household composition, which is unknown. Psoriasis severity was patient reported and not physician assessed.

This study demonstrated that income and employment were negatively impacted among patients with severe psoriasis compared with mild psoriasis.