The global, regional, and national burden of psoriasis in 195 countries and territories, 1990 to 2017: A systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Abstract

Background: Few existing studies on the global incidence, prevalence, and burden of disease from psoriasis are of high quality, making reliable data and comparisons difficult to find.

Methods: We analyzed global psoriasis trends from 1990 to 2017 in 195 countries worldwide through the Global Burden of Disease Study database, including age-standardized prevalence rates, percent change in age-standardized prevalence rates, age and sex patterns, and psoriasis burden using disability-adjusted life years.

Results: The age-specific prevalence rate in 2017 showed a left-skewed distribution with a peak between 60 and 70 years of age and a roughly equal male-to-female ratio across all ages. Psoriasis burden was greatest in countries with high income and high sociodemographic index. A positive linear relationship between psoriasis prevalence and comorbidities is seen with cardiovascular disease (R = .67), mental health (R = .63), type 2 diabetes mellitus (R = .55), stroke (R = .51), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (R = .84), Hodgkin lymphoma (R = .77), nonmelanoma skin cancer (R = .68), and inflammatory bowel disease (R = .55) across all countries in 2017.

Conclusion: There is increasing prevalence, burden, and associated comorbidities of psoriasis on a global scale and the need for support to reduce this important global health disparity.

Keywords: Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) database; Hodgkin lymphoma; age-standardized prevalence rates; cardiovascular disease; diabetes; disability-adjusted life years (DALYs); global medicine; gross domestic product (GDP) per capita; health care disparities; inflammatory bowel disease; mental health; non-Hodgkin lymphoma; nonmelanoma skin cancer; psoriasis; stroke.