ABSTRACT
Background: psoriatic arthritis [PsA] is a chronic, inflammatory, progressive joint disease. It has much psychosocial impact and affects quality of life [QOL] of the patients
Aim of the study: to determine the psychosocial impact of PsA on the patients and to define QOL of them
Patients and Methods: the study was conducted on 50 PsA patients, 68 psoriasis [Ps] patients, and 100 controls. A case-control, clinic-based study design was used in this research. An interviewing form and Middle Sex Hospital Questionnaire were used to survey the characteristics of the patients and controls. Severity of PsA was determined clinically. Also, the medical outcomes study 36-item short form [SF-36] was used to assess impact of the disease on the patient's QOL
Results: most [92.0%] of PsA patients had psychiatric symptoms. The disease had interfered with most of patients' personal feelings and relationships, daily activities, school/work, and leisure/sport. Majority [88.0%] of the patients had stigma feeling. Also, 40.0% and 60.0% of PsA patients had severe and mild forms, respectively. The differences between two forms of PsA regarding interference with school/work and presence of suicidal ideation were significant. The difference regarding presence of familial psychological stress was significant. The highly affected SF-36 domain scores were general health and physical limitation. The eight mean domain scores were significantly lower among PsA patients than controls. The mean domain scores of physical functioning, physical limitation, social functioning, emotional limitation, and mental health were significantly lower among patients with severe PsA than those with mild PsA. The eight mean domain scores were significantly lower among PsA patients than those with only Ps
Conclusions: the physical and psychosocial aspects of PsA may interact and influence one another. So, PsA has a great effect on the patients' QOL; disrupting physical and psychosocial aspects, and interfering with daily activities, school/work, and leisure/sport. QOL scores were significantly lower among PsA than only Ps patients
ABSTRACT
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis are common, chronic, immune mediated disease of the skin and joints. Interaction between genes and environment are important in disease causation. The aim of the present study was to determine the socioemographic and clinical characters of adult patients with psoriasis and those with psoriatic arthritis, to define psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis etiological risk factors, and to define the relationship between psoriasis severity and these items. This study was conducted at Dermatology Clinic, Al-Hussein University Hospital. A case-control study design was chosen to perform this research. The study was conducted on 100 adult patients with psoriasis and an equal number of free adults as controls. Criteria for diagnosis of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis were used. A comprehensive questionnaire was used to survey the studied groups. Body surface area of the affected patients was used as a marker of disease severity. The study showed that 44.0% of the cases had psoriasis age of onset; 22-45 years. Stress was the most common etiological risk factor, 67.0%. While, the most important risk factors were family history of psoriasis, recurrent pharyngitis, smoking >/=20 cigarettes/ day and higher level of education, odds ratio [OR]=7.58, 5.94, 2.78 and 2.69, respectively. Also, 32.0% of the patients had psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis comes after psoriasis and had mild severity in 65.6% and 68.7% of the cases, respectively. The most important etiological risk factors were severe psoriasis, smoking >/= 20 cigarettes/day and early onset of psoriasis, OR=9.64, 3.06 and 2.72, respectively. The epidemiology of psoriasis is not well defined in Egypt. The heredity and environmental factors are the most important risk factors. Also, psoriatic arthritis is an important associated disease. The fact that it has no cure has important implications for how it should be viewed, prevented and treated. We recommend that more research should be carried out to understand the true epidemiological features of the disease in Egypt and its impacts on quality of life of the patients