Geriatric Psoriasis: Evaluation of Clinical Features, Disease Course, and Treatment Modalities of Patients from a Tertiary Care Hospital
Keywords:
psoriasis, Palmoplantar psoriasis, Keratoderma, Quality of lifeAbstract
Introduction: Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by erythematous, scaly, and well-demarcated pruritic plaques on the extensor areas of the extremities. Psoriasis is one of the most common dermatological diseases in the geriatric population.
Objective: The aim of this investigation is to evaluate the demographic data, clinical characteristics, and treatment responses of the geriatric population (≥60 with psoriasis at our hospital.
Methods: In this study, we examined 221 geriatric patients diagnosed with psoriasis. We evaluated patients in 2 groups: early-onset (<60 years) and elderly-onset (≥60 years).
Results: In our study, 50.7% of the patients were female, the average age was 65.9 years., and 76.4% of the patients were considered early-onset. There was no significant difference in terms of the initial body areas affected by the disease between the early-onset and elderly-onset groups; 45.7% of patients had nail psoriasis, while 27.1% had psoriatic arthritis. Nail involvement (p = 0.021) and the presence of psoriatic arthritis (p = 0.011) were more common in the early-onset group. Systemic treatment was predominantly initiated as the first treatment agent in the elderly-onset group (p = 0.014). Patients in the early-onset group received more cyclosporine treatment than the others (p=0.01).
Conclusions: The geriatric population is associated with multiple comorbidities and polypharmacy, highlighting the importance of evaluating patients' medications and comorbidities when selecting a treatment agent for psoriasis.
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