Rosacea poses risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease

Individuals with rosacea are at heightened risk of developing subsequent cardiovascular disease (CVD), as suggested in a study.

The retrospective study used data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service‐Health Screening Cohort. A total of 2,681 patients with newly diagnosed rosacea and 26,810 matched individuals without rosacea comprised the study population.

The mean age of the entire population was 57.7 years, and half were men. Compared with the reference population, rosacea patients were more likely to be on diabetes or dyslipidaemia medications, have a higher household income, smoke less, drink less, exercise less, and have additional comorbidities. Moreover, patients had slightly lower systolic blood pressure and fasting serum glucose levels.

The primary endpoint of subsequent CVD, including coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, occurred more frequently in the rosacea than the reference group. The corresponding incidence rates were 11.44 vs 9.36 per 1,000 person-years for CVD, 5.88 vs 4.35 per 1,000 person-years for CHD, and 6.10 vs 5.44 per 1,000 person-years for stroke.

Multivariable Cox regression analyses showed that rosacea was associated with increased risks of CVD (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.20, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.03–1.40; p=0.017) and CHD (aHR, 1.29, 95 percent CI, 1.05–1.60; p=0.017) but not stroke (aHR, 1.12, 95 percent CI, 0.91–1.37; p=0.282).

The findings highlight a need to manage rosacea along with other modifiable risk factors of CVD in the present population.