Patients with psoriasis, joint pain use more analgesics

Patients with psoriasis also suffering from concomitant psoriatic arthritis (PsA) more frequently use analgesics than the general population, an effect driven by joint pain, a new study has found.

Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 4,016 patients (mean age 59.4±14.4 years) with psoriasis, of whom 847 had concomitant PsA. A parallel group of 3,490 general population controls (mean age 54.7±17.6 years) was also included.

The EuroQoL 5 Dimensions 5 Levels was used to assess the participants’ general health, while disease severity was self-reported according to body surface area (BSA). Joint pain was rated via a numerical rating scale (NRS), and prescription analgesics were quantified through the linkage with a nationwide database for medicines.

Analgesic use was higher in psoriatic patients than in the general population. Moreover, those with concomitant PsA more frequently used analgesics than patients without PsA. There was no link between the extent of psoriasis and the use of any of the assessed analgesics.

Notably, increasing skin and joint symptoms correlated with the prescription of multiple analgesic medications.

In patients with PsA, 12.7 percent and 12.9 percent of those with only mild/no itch or skin pain, respectively, had used opioids in the last 12 months. In contrast, the corresponding percentages were 19.4 percent for severe itch (p=0.001) and 19.3 percent for severe pain (p<0.001). After controlling for covariates, multivariable logistic regression found that only joint pain was a significant predictor of analgesic use.

“Itch, skin pain, and joint pain were associated [with] lower quality of life, and only joint pain was associated with increased use of analgesics. Increased attention on such symptoms by physicians may be warranted to further improve management of patients with psoriasis in clinical practice,” the researchers said.