Key clinical point: Use of analgesics was higher in patients with psoriasis, particularly those with concomitant psoriatic arthritis (PsA), which could be because of increased joint pain.
Major finding: Moderate-to-severe joint pain was reported by 69% vs 45% of patients with vs without PsA ( P less than .0001). Patients with psoriasis vs reference individuals used more nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS; 21.0% vs 17.3%) and opioids (14.2% vs 9.0%) within 1 year. Use of NSAIDS (30.8%) and opioids (22.7%) was even higher in patients with psoriasis and PsA. Of all symptoms, only joint pain seemed to be associated with the use of analgesics ( P less than .05).
Study details: Findings are from a cross-sectional study of 4,016 adults with psoriasis including 847 with concomitant PsA and 3,490 reference individuals.
Disclosures: No source of funding was declared. Dr. Loft, Dr. Kristensen, and Dr. Egeberg declared being speakers, receiving fees for speaking and consultancy, and/or research funding from various sources. Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Thyssen declared no potential conflict of interests.
Source: Loft N et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2021 Jul 24. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2021.07.028 .