Statins don't reduce psoriasis risk

(HealthDay)—Statin use does not lower the risk of psoriasis, according to a study published online April 20 in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Gabriel Chodick, Ph.D., from Tel Aviv University in Israel, and colleagues analyzed data from 205,820 health plan enrollees (mean age 55 years; 54.1 percent female) who initiated statin treatment from January 1998 through September 2009. Over a mean of 6.2 years of follow-up, adherence with statins, measured by proportion of days covered (PDC) and diagnosis codes of psoriasis, were assessed.

The researchers found that a total of 5,615 psoriasis cases (incidence density, 4.4 per 1,000 person-years) were identified. Patients covered with statins for 40 to 59 percent of the time had a significantly (P < 0.05) lower risk of psoriasis, with hazard ratios (HRs) of 0.84 and 0.74 among males and females, respectively, compared with non-adherent patients (PDC of <20 percent). For patients with PDC of ≥80 percent (more adherent), HRs were 0.88 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.79 to 0.98) and 1.00 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.90 to 1.11), respectively.

"The results of the current study suggest that high and long-term adherence with statins is not associated with a meaningful reduction in the risk of psoriasis," the authors write.

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