Fatigue occurs in 50 percent with chronic plaque psoriasis

(HealthDay)—About half of patients with chronic plaque psoriasis have fatigue, according to a study published online Feb. 9 in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Inger Marie Skoie, from Stavanger University Hospital in Norway, and colleagues evaluated the prevalence and degree of fatigue among patients with chronic plaque psoriasis. Fatigue severity was assessed in 84 patients and 84 healthy controls using three generic fatigue instruments: fatigue Visual Analogue Scale (fVAS), the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) vitality scale.

The researchers found that the median fVAS scores were 51 and 11, FSS scores were 4 and 1.6, and SF-36 vitality scores were 43 and 73, respectively, for patients and healthy control subjects. Among patients versus healthy subjects, the rates of clinically important fatigue were 51 versus 4 percent (fVAS), 52 versus 4 percent (FSS), and 42 versus 2 percent (SF-36) (all P < 0.001). In univariate, but not multivariate, analysis, fatigue was associated with the Dermatology Life Quality Index, but not with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index scores.

"A better understanding of the link between psoriasis and fatigue could promote the development of better care and self-management options for these patients, and possibly lay the foundation for more effective therapeutic approaches in the future," the authors write.

One author disclosed financial ties to Pfizer.