Assocation of Psoriasis and Occupational Organic Dust Exposure: A Cross-sectional Analysis of NHANES 2009-2012 Data...

The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between psoriasis and occupational organic dust exposure among United States (US) adults 20 to 79 years of age.

We merged two, two-year cycles (2009 to 2010 and 2011 to 2012) of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Of 10,990 participants, 483 were excluded due to incomplete data, resulting in a cohort of 10,507 individuals. We utilized STATA/SE 18.0 for multivariable logistic regression analyses.

Among individuals with psoriasis, the prevalence of organic dust exposure was 32 percent compared to 22 percent with organic dust exposure among those without psoriasis. There was a significant association between psoriasis and organic dust exposure among patients ages 20 to 79 years after adjusting for potential confounding variables (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.68; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19-2.36; p=0.004). There was significant organic dust exposure among female participants with psoriasis (p=0.040), and increased rates of exposure among adults with psoriasis ages 40 to 59 years (p=0.038) and adults with psoriasis ages 60 to 79 years (p=0.034). There was a higher percentage of psoriasis participants with over fifteen years of organic dust exposure (43%) compared to those without psoriasis (23%) (p=0.038).

Limitations include the possibility of recall bias due to self-reporting and inability to control for psoriasis severity.

Organic dust exposure was significantly associated with psoriasis in this study. These results remained significant when examining female subgroups, ages 40 to 59 years, and ages 60 to 79 years. There was also a statistically significant presence of psoriasis among individuals with occupational organic dust exposure of fifteen years or more.