Association of patient-reported psoriasis severity with income and employment

Abstract

Objective: We sought to examine whether psoriasis severity was associated with patient income and employment.

Methods: Respondents (> 30 years old) to National Psoriasis Foundation surveys (2003-2005) were classified by reported body surface area as having mild (< 3%), moderate (3%-10%), or severe (> 10%) psoriasis. The relationship between severity and household income (< $30,000 vs > or = $30,000) and employment was assessed by logistic regression, adjusting for age, age at onset, sex, race, and drug treatment.

Results: Probability of low income (< $30,000) was significantly greater among patients with severe disease than those with mild disease (P = .0002). Patients with severe disease had lower probability of working full time compared with patients with mild psoriasis but it was not statistically significant. Significantly more patients with severe psoriasis (17%) versus mild (6%) reported that psoriasis was the reason for not working (P = .01).

Limitations: Household income was self-reported and may be influenced by household composition, which is unknown. Psoriasis severity was patient reported and not physician assessed.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that income and employment were negatively impacted among patients with severe psoriasis compared with mild psoriasis.