Women Have Lower Psoriasis Area and Severity Index Scores Than Men

HealthDay News — Women have lower median Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores than men, according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology.

David Hägg, from Umeå University in Sweden, and colleagues examined the sex differences in the severity of psoriasis using the PASI and the distinct elements of the PASI score in a cross-sectional study involving 5,438 patients experiencing moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

The researchers found that across all ages, women had statistically significantly lower median PASI scores than men (5.4 vs 7.3; P <.001). Women had significantly lower scores in all areas of the body than men, except for the head, in itemized PASI analyses. There were no differences in medication use prior to enrollment that could have caused these differences.

“These findings motivate a gender perspective in the management of psoriasis and in the prevention and management of its comorbidities,” the researchers write.

Reference

Hägg D, Sundström A, Eriksson M, et al. Severity of psoriasis differs between men and women: a study of the clinical outcome measure psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) in 5438 Swedish register patients [published online March 24, 2017]. Am J Clin Dermatol. doi: 10.1007/s40257-017-0274-0

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