Increased incidence of ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease in psoriasis patients with depression: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND

Psoriasis is known to confer a higher risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. However, very few studies have investigated whether the development of depression in psoriasis patients may further increase this vascular risk.

OBJECTIVE

We investigated the risk of ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease in Taiwanese psoriasis patients with and without depression.

METHODS

A nationwide population-based retrospective cohort study was performed using the National Health Insurance Research Database. We included 604 psoriasis patients with depression, who were matched to 2416 psoriasis patients without depression (1 : 4 ratio). Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were determined using the Cox proportional hazards regression model, with adjustment for demographic characteristics and comorbidities.

RESULTS

Compared with psoriasis patients without depression, psoriasis patients with depression had greater risk of developing incident ischaemic heart disease (19.5% vs. 8.3%, adjusted RR 1.98, 95% CI 1.57-2.49), cerebrovascular disease (15.6% vs. 5.9%, adjusted RR 2.29, 95% CI 1.76-2.98), and either ischaemic heart disease or cerebrovascular disease (28.3% vs. 12.5%, adjusted RR 1.94, 95% CI 1.60-2.35). Subgroup analysis showed that in psoriasis patients with depression, a higher risk of incident ischaemic heart disease or cerebrovascular disease was present in age groups 30-100 years, in both males and females, and in both lower and higher income categories.

CONCLUSION

Depression is an independent risk factor for incident ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease in patients with psoriasis. Therefore, clinicians need to be vigilant for the increased vascular risk in psoriasis patients with depression.