Higher risk for depression with psoriasis

(HealthDay)—There is an increased risk of depression among women with psoriasis, according to a study published online July 17 in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Erica D. Dommasch, M.D., from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues investigated the risk of incident depression among individuals with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The authors utilized data from 50,750 U.S. female nurses participating in the Nurses' Health Study who were free of depression at baseline in 2000.

The researchers found that after adjusting for covariates (body mass index, physical activity, smoking, and the presence of major chronic conditions), the adjusted relative risk of clinical depression was 1.29 for women with psoriasis and 1.52 for women with psoriasis and concomitant psoriatic arthritis versus women without psoriasis.

"Future studies are needed to confirm these findings in other populations and to identify pathophysiological mechanisms linking psoriasis to depression," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.