National Taiwan University Reports Findings in Psoriasis (Risk of serious infection and infection mortality in patients with psoriasis: a nationwide cohort study using the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database): Skin Diseases and Conditions – Psoriasis

2023 AUG 31 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Information Technology Business Daily -- New research on Skin Diseases and Conditions - Psoriasis is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Taipei, Taiwan, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The risks of serious infections that lead to hospitalisation and mortality in patients with psoriasis in Asia have not been comprehensively studied. We examined the incidence of serious infection and infection mortality in patients with psoriasis.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from National Taiwan University, “This population-based retrospective cohort study used the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database from 2000 to 2017. Adult patients with psoriasis were identified by a relevant International Classification of Diseases (ICD) code and matched to six comparators without psoriasis on age and sex. Psoriasis patients were categorised as having moderate-to-severe disease once exposed to systemic therapies, phototherapy or biologic therapies. The incidence of serious infection and infection mortality were identified by ICD codes from inpatient hospitalisation and death registration. Cox proportional hazard models were used to compare the risk, and the results were adjusted for covariates and presented as adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI). Overall, 185,434 psoriasis patients and 1,112,581 comparators were included. A higher rate of serious infection (aHR:1.21, 95%CI: 1.19-1.22) was found in patients with psoriasis compared to matched comparators without psoriasis, and the risk was enhanced when patients had moderate-to-severe psoriasis (aHR:1.30, 95%CI: 1.27-1.34). Specifically, there was an increased risk of serious infection due to respiratory infections (aHR:1.11, 95%CI: 1.09-1.13), skin/soft-tissue infections (aHR:1.57, 95%CI: 1.52-1.62), sepsis (aHR:1.23, 95%CI: 1.19-1.27), urinary tract infections (aHR:1.11, 95%CI: 1.08-1.14), hepatitis B (aHR:1.18, 95%CI: 1.06-1.30), and hepatitis C (aHR:1.49, 95%CI: 1.32-1.69). Furthermore, psoriasis patients were associated with a higher risk of infection-related mortality (aHR:1.15, 95%CI: 1.11-1.18) compared to matched comparators. Patients with psoriasis had a higher risk of serious infection and infection mortality, which was enhanced by moderate-to-severe psoriasis.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Practitioners should be aware of the increased risk in patients with psoriasis, but it should not be a barrier to offering effective treatment.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Risk of serious infection and infection mortality in patients with psoriasis: a nationwide cohort study using the Taiwan National Health Insurance claims database. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 2023. Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-3083)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Ting-Chun Wang, Health Data Research Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Additional authors for this research include Teng-Chou Chen, Zenas Z. N. Yiu, Meng-Sui Lee, Li-Chia Chen, K. Arnold Chan, Christopher E. M. Griffiths and Darren M. Ashcroft.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/jdv.19466. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology is: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA.

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