The prevalence of psoriasis in African Americans

Results from a population-based study

Gelfand, Joel M. MD, MSCE
Stern, Robert S. MD
Nijsten, Tamar MD
Feldman, Steven R. MD, PhD
Thomas, John MS
Kist, Joe MD
Rolstad, Tara MBA
Margolis, David J. MD, PhD

^aDepartment of Dermatology and Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
^bDepartment of Dermatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
^cUniversity Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium
^dDepartments of Dermatology, Pathology, and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Wake Forest, North Carolina
^eLaunchBox, LLC, Portland, Oregon.
^fNational Psoriasis Foundation, Portland, Oregon.

Reprint requests: Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, 3600 Spruce St, 2 Maloney Bldg, Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104. E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Gelfand was supported by grants from the Dermatology Foundation; the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases (K23 AR051125-01); and the American Skin Association. The Psoriasis Foundation gratefully acknowledges Biogen, Amgen, and Wyeth for their unrestricted grant to help make the survey possible. The Psoriasis Foundation was solely responsible for all survey content and development.

Conflicts of interest: None identified.

Accepted for publication July 28, 2004

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 52(1):p 23-26, January 2005.

Background

Psoriasis is a common disease with substantial effects on quality of life. The prevalence of psoriasis in African Americans has been previously reported as rare. However, there have been no population-based studies to assess the prevalence and burden of psoriasis in African Americans.

Objective

We sought to measure the prevalence and burden of psoriasis in African Americans compared with Caucasians.

Methods

Patients were randomly selected from the United States population and were asked standard demographic questions. Patients who reported a physician diagnosis of psoriasis were asked additional questions related to quality of life.

Results

The total sample included 27,220 individuals of which 21,921 were Caucasian and 2443 were African American. The prevalence of psoriasis was 2.5% in Caucasian patients and was 1.3% in African American patients. African Americans had an approximately 52% reduction in the prevalence of psoriasis compared with Caucasians (P < .0001). African Americans and Caucasians had similar impacts on quality of life and treatment satisfaction based on single global questions.

Conclusion

Although psoriasis is less common in African Americans than in Caucasians, it is not rare in either demographic and carries a substantial burden in both groups.