Illuminating fatigue in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis

Investigators may have uncovered the factors contributing to fatigue in patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, according to an article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

In the cross-sectional study, the investigators recruited 2,741 patients with psoriasis — 593 of whom had psoriatic arthritis and 2,148 of whom didn’t have the disease — and 3,788 controls.

Compared with controls, the patients with psoriasis and those with psoriatic arthritis had higher fatigue scores. However, the patients with psoriatic arthritis had greater levels of fatigue compared with the patients who had psoriasis but not psoriatic arthritis. Further, in both psoriasis patient groups, heightened joint pain intensity and itch intensity were both positively associated with increased fatigue scores. The patients with psoriatic arthritis also experienced greater fatigue if they had skin pain — a correlation that was not present in the patients with psoriasis but not psoriatic arthritis.

The investigators concluded that a symptom-based treatment approach may help manage fatigue in this patient population.

Read more: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

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