The research was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. The authors of the study examined data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2002 to 2012, containing a representative 20 percent sample of all hospitalizations in the country. The researchers focused on rates and predictors of serious infections in hospitalized psoriasis patients and quantify costs of care, length of stay and mortality.
Highlighted below are three findings from the study.
1. The study revealed psoriasis with associated with the following serious infections:
- Cellulitis (with an odds ratio of 3.21)
- Herpes simplex virus infection (OR 2.21)
- Infectious arthritis (OR 1.82)
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (OR 1.76)
- Tuberculosis (OR 1.34)
- Meningitis (OR 1.31)
- Osteomyelitis (OR 1.31)
- Encephalitis (OR 1.22)
2. Across all time intervals studied, rates of serious infections among patients with psoriasis increased and were significantly higher than infection rates for those without psoriasis.
3. The average length of stay (6.6 days) and cost of care ($13,291) was also higher for psoriasis patients with serious infections than the average length of stay (4.6 days) and cost of care ($11,003) for psoriasis patients without serious infections.
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