Psoriatic Arthritis Affects 1 in 5 Psoriasis Patients

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) affects almost 20% of patients with psoriasis, according to the findings of a recent study.

In the meta-analysis, researchers identified 266 studies that reported on the prevalence or incidence of PsA among a total of 976,408 participants with psoriasis and calculated pooled proportion estimates of PsA.
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The pooled proportion of PsA was 19.7% among participants with psoriasis and the incidence of PsA ranged from 0.27 to 2.7 per 100 person-years.

Among patients younger than 18 years, the pooled prevalence was 3.3%. Additionally, the prevalence of PsA was 22.7% among European populations, 21.5% among South American populations, 19.5% among North American populations, 15.5% among African populations, and 14% among Asian populations of participants with psoriasis. In studies that used the Classification Criteria for Psoriatic Arthritis (CASPAR), the prevalence of PsA was 23.8%.

While between-study heterogeneity may have affected the estimates, the researchers noted that “with the growing recognition of CASPAR, more homogenous and comparable prevalence estimates are expected to be reported.”

Reference

Alinaghi F, Calov M, Kristensen LE, et al. Prevalence of psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational and clinical studies [published online June 28, 2018]. J Am Acad Dermatol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2018.06.027