1Dept of Oral Pathology, School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
2Dept of Medicine, School of Medical Sciences & Research, Sharda University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
3Dermatology, Max Hospital, Gurgaon, India
Several reports have demonstrated an association between psoriasis and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases. Very few studies have determined which factors are independently associated with psoriasis. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between psoriasis and hypertension based on a sample of Indian population.
The study comprised of 120 psoriatic patients without known history of hypertension & cardiovascular involvement, and, age and sex matched 120 healthy controls. All study subjects were evaluated for the presence of hypertension according to JNC 7 guidelines.
Out of 120 psoriatic patients, 55 were males and 65 were females. Control group had 54 males and 66 females. Mean age of psoriatic patients was 46.4 ± 8.2 and that of control group was 44.7 ± 6.9. Hypertension was diagnosed in 37.5% of psoriasis patients compared to 20.08% of healthy controls and the comparison was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.01). In a multivariate analysis, hypertension was associated with psoriasis after controlling for age, sex, smoking status, diabetes, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and use of Cox-2 inhibitors (odds ratio: 1.42, 95% confidence interval).
We suggest that patients with psoriasis should be routinely screened for the presence of hypertension to prevent the onset or progression of comorbidities.
psoriasis, hypertension, blood pressure, skin disease
