Screening for cardiovascular disease in psoriasis patients

[Fred]

This study set out to investigate whether screening for CVD risk factors in patients with psoriasis in primary care augments the known prevalence of CVD risk factors in a cross-sectional study.

Quote:

---

Background:
Studies assessing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in patients with psoriasis have been limited by selection bias, inappropriate controls or a reliance on data collected for clinical reasons.

Objectives:
To investigate whether screening for CVD risk factors in patients with psoriasis in primary care augments the known prevalence of CVD risk factors in a cross-sectional study.

Methods:
Patients listed as having psoriasis in primary care were recruited, screened and risk assessed by QRISK2.

Results:
In total, 287 patients attended (mean age 53 years, 57% women, 94% white British, 22% severe disease, 33% self-reported psoriatic arthritis). The proportion with known and screen-detected (previously unknown) risk factors was as follows: hypertension 35% known and 13% screen-detected; hypercholesterolaemia 32% and 37%; diabetes 6·6% and 3·1% and chronic kidney disease 1·1% and 4·5%. At least one screen-detected risk factor was found in 48% and two or more risk factors were found in 21% of patients. One in three patients (37%) not previously known to be at high risk were found to have a high (> 10%) 10-year CVD risk. Among the participants receiving treatment for known CVD risk factors, nearly half had suboptimal levels for blood pressure (46%) and cholesterol (46%).

Conclusions:
Cardiovascular risk factor screening of primary care-based adults with psoriasis identified a high proportion of patients at high CVD risk, with screen-detected risk factors and with suboptimally managed known risk factors. These findings need to be considered alongside reports that detected limited responses of clinicians to identified risk factors before universal CVD screening can be recommended.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

*Funding: National Institute for Health Research. Higher Education Funding Council for England.

[Caroline]

Let me think.....

1) does this mean that I am gonna get a heart disease also?

2) how is this compared to people without psoriasis?

[Fred]

1) does this mean that I am gonna get a heart disease also?

No, but you have an increased risk

2) how is this compared to people without psoriasis?

I don't know.

[Kat]

Interesting and also something else to worry about.

I've had low blood pressure all my life and yet back at the start of this year my blood pressure was up and they put me on medication for it. I expected to get off of it at my last appointment but blood pressure was still high so they increased the med.

Probably no relation to me having psoriasis but it does make one wonder.