TOPLINE:

The global psoriasis burden showed a slight increase from 1990 to 2021, with age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) increasing by 10.3% among men and 7.3% among women, and is projected to increase further by 2050.

METHODOLOGY:

• Investigators analyzed the age-, sex-, and region-specific rates for incidence, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life-years for psoriasis from 1990 to 2021 across 236 countries from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study database.
• They analyzed ASIRs and extended forecasts through 2050.
• They also assessed the correlation between ASIR and the sociodemographic index.

TAKEAWAY:

• ASIRs increased from 1990 to 2021 by 10.3% for men (56.89-62.77 per 100,000) and by 7.3% for women (57.08-61.26 per 100,000). By 2050, the ASIR was projected to continue to increase to approximately 70 per 100,000 for men and 66 per 100,000 for women.
• North America and Western Europe demonstrated the highest crude incidence and prevalence rates, while East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa showed lower estimated burdens.
• Incidence rates among men increased significantly with age, particularly in older populations, while gender differences were similar in children and adolescents aged 5-19 years.
• ASIR correlated positively with the sociodemographic index (correlation coefficient, 0.73; P < .001).

IN PRACTICE:

“This decision model analysis identified a slight increase in the global burden of psoriasis from 1990 to 2021, consistent with previous studies,” the study authors wrote. Underlying reasons for the differences between the ASIRs for men and women, they added, “require further investigation,” and the regional differences “should be interpreted cautiously given potential ecological confounding — population age structure, data density/ascertainment, and population composition (including race and ethnicity) — that cannot be addressed with country-level GBD summaries.”

SOURCE:

The study was led by Linli Liu, MD, Department of Dermatology, Suining Central Hospital, Suining, China, and was published online on November 26 in JAMA Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

The data quality and ascertainment varied across countries, race and ethnicity data were unavailable, forecasts did not model changes in diagnosis or treatment over time, and prediction intervals did not repropagate GBD posterior variance, so uncertainty could have been understated.

DISCLOSURES:

This work received support from the Sichuan Medical Youth Innovation Research Project, the Suining Health Science and Technology Project, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Chongqing Science and Technology Commission. The authors reported having no relevant conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.