Dohyen Wi, Dedee Murrell, Anna Wilson
Aims: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease associated with multiple co-morbidities. Over the past decade, several observational studies and emerging evidence in the literature has linked psoriasis with osteoporosis but our understanding is yet unclear and controversial. This study aims to further explore the association between psoriasis and osteoporosis through an assessment of the prevalence of osteopaenia and osteoporosis in psoriasis patients on biologics._x000D_
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Methods: This was a retrospective clinical audit of psoriasis patients on biologics attending a private dermatology practice. A data of 141 psoriasis patients were screened initially, and a total of 101 patients were included in the study for data collection and analysis. Patients were classified into different bone mineral density (BMD) groups and bivariate analysis was performed to determine the relationship between BMD and variables such as age. Multiple statistical tests were conducted to analyse different datasets and we fitted a linear regression line with scatter plots to observe for any correlation between the variables._x000D_
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Results: Prevalence of osteopaenia was 39% and osteoporosis was 11% in our study population. We have found an association between psoriasis and BMD in relation to patient’s age, body mass index (BMI) and smoking status. Other variables against BMD were not statistically significant (P < 0.05)._x000D_
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Conclusions: There appears to be a significant association between psoriasis and osteoporosis. However, further studies are required to verify our results and more research on this topic will assist clinicians with management of bone health in psoriasis patients._x000D_
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