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Updated: May 24, 2026

Measuring Psoriasis Severity at Home
02:28

Measuring Psoriasis Severity at Home

Published on: March 1, 2024

Disease severity and therapy as predictors of cardiovascular risk in psoriasis: a population-based cohort study

H Maradit-Kremers1, M Icen, F C Ernste

  • 1Department of Health Sciences Research, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. maradit@mayo.edu

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV
|February 21, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Psoriasis severity, indicated by the number of affected body sites, is linked to higher cardiovascular risk, even after accounting for traditional risk factors. This suggests disease extent is a key factor in psoriasis-related heart disease risk.

Area of Science:

  • Dermatology
  • Cardiology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Psoriasis is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
  • The specific contributions of psoriasis disease characteristics versus traditional CVD risk factors remain unclear.
  • This study investigates how psoriasis disease characteristics influence CVD risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the association between psoriasis disease characteristics and cardiovascular risk.
  • To adjust for traditional cardiovascular risk factors when assessing this association.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a case-cohort study (n=771) and a prevalent psoriasis cohort (n=1905).
  • Followed patients to collect data on disease and treatment characteristics, traditional CVD risk factors, and CVD outcomes.
  • Employed Cox proportional hazards regression models to identify predictors of CVD outcomes.

Main Results:

  • An increasing number of psoriasis-affected body sites at disease onset was significantly associated with higher CVD risk (HR: 1.53 per additional site) after adjusting for traditional risk factors.
  • Univariate analyses showed associations between phototherapy (HR: 3.76) and systemic therapy (HR: 2.17) with higher CVD risk, but these disappeared after adjustment.
  • The study had limited power to assess the impact of systemic therapy due to a low number of exposed patients.

Conclusions:

  • The number of psoriasis-affected body sites may serve as a psoriasis severity indicator and is independently associated with increased cardiovascular risk.
  • Stronger associations observed with phototherapy and systemic therapy in univariate analyses suggest that CVD risk in psoriasis may be concentrated in patients with more severe disease.
  • Further research is needed to fully elucidate the role of specific psoriasis treatments in cardiovascular risk.
Abstract

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