Psoriatic arthritis and its special features predispose not only for osteoporosis but also for fractures and falls

Limited data are available on the predisposing factors to fractures and falls of patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Our study intended to explore the differences between PsA patients and controls, concerning bone mineral density (BMD), the 10-year fracture risk, the number of prevalent fractures, the frequency of falls and to investigate the association of the same factors with PsA disease characteristics within the PsA group. Medical reports of 61 PsA patients and 69 consecutive, age-matched controls were analyzed, physical examination and bone mineral density (BMD, and T-score) were performed, and the 10-year fracture risk was calculated. The results were subjected to statistical analysis. Femoral neck BMD, as well as vertebral and femoral neck T-scores were lower, the odds ratio (OR) for low BMD and the 10-year risk of hip fracture was higher (p = 0.0029; 0.0002, p < 0.0001, OR = 21,9, p = 0.014) in the PsA group. The PsA patients were more predisposed to prevalent fractures, including peripheral fractures, and vertebral fractures as well as falls (OR 3.42; 2.26; 13.33; 3.95, respectively), compared to controls. Within the PsA group (beyond the age) scalp psoriasis and late-onset psoriasis, were significantly associated with a greater number of prevalent fractures (p = 0.0049; 0.029), while the number of falls per year correlated with late-onset psoriasis and the flexural psoriasis (p = 0.007; 0.023). Our results suggest that PsA is an independent risk factor for reduced bone density and falls hence to related bone fractures. Patients with late-onset psoriasis are more likely to suffer falls and related fractures, especially if their disease is characterized by the involvement of the hairy scalp and body folds.