Pediatric psoriasis: A descriptive, retrospective and multicenter study in Colombia

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Pediatrics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Pediatric psoriasis affects 0.5–4.1% of children, is more common in females, and often presents as plaque psoriasis.
• Associated comorbidities include obesity, metabolic syndrome, and a family history of psoriasis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of pediatric psoriasis patients.
• To analyze data from pediatric dermatology consultations within the Asociación Colombiana de Dermatología.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive, retrospective, multicenter study was conducted.
• Data were collected from January 2017 to June 2022, with Stata 13™ software used for analysis.

Main Results:

• Psoriasis was diagnosed in 0.54% of 26,870 patients (146 cases), with a female-to-male ratio of 1.5:1 and median age of onset at eight years.
• Vulgar psoriasis was the most common type (72.6%), affecting the scalp most frequently (55.48%). Common comorbidities included obesity and Crohn’s disease (5.5% each).
• Most cases (78%) were mild (PASI score), treated primarily with topical therapies (65%).

Conclusions:

• Vulgar psoriasis is the most frequent variant in children, typically presenting with mild severity and responding well to topical treatment.
• The association of pediatric psoriasis with systemic diseases highlights the need for comprehensive patient evaluation and further research.