Lower Quality Housing Associated with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Severity of Disease
SKIN: The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine®, Association between Housing Instability and Severity of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study
Individuals who reported some form of housing instability within the past year had two to twenty times as severe psoriasis as patients with stable living accommodations.”
NEW ORLEANS, LA, USA, July 15, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- There are many factors that can affect the well-being of an individual’s skin, but did you know whether or not you have a place to regularly rest your head at night might also play a role in your dermatologic health? Psoriasis is a disease that has a major impact in the US with an estimated 10,000,000 Americans afflicted. A new study suggests that our most vulnerable patients may also be the most vulnerable to the effects of severe psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.— Jalal Maghfour, MS
Jalal Maghfour, MS and colleagues conducted a survey study of 50 patients over the age of 18 with psoriasis and asked them questions about their housing situation as well as other markers of socioeconomic status. The authors found that individuals who reported some form of housing instability within the past year (e.g. homeless, had lived in more than one place, had moved in the last year or moved in with someone to lower household expenses, or were falling behind on their rent or mortgage) had two to twenty times as severe psoriasis as patients with stable living accommodations.
The authors suggest that an individual’s housing status may impact treatment availability and selection and potentially prevent patients from achieving the full benefit of treatment. Without adequate housing accommodations, individuals may have a harder time using medications that need to be refrigerated between uses or even finding stable and reliable transportations to light treatment sessions that may require traveling to a clinic up to 3 times a week.
The authors concluded that housing instability is an important psychosocial stressor that can make it harder for an individual to obtain the treatments they need to manage their psoriasis. They also note that physicians play an important role in identifying these types of socioeconomic and psychosocial stressors, potentially helping these patients to get the social support services they need and ultimately reducing the external stressors, all with the goal of improving their clinical outcomes.
SKIN: The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine® is a peer-reviewed online medical journal that is the official journal of The National Society for Cutaneous Medicine. The mission of SKIN is to provide an enhanced and accelerated route to disseminate new dermatologic knowledge for all aspects of cutaneous disease.
For more details please visit www.jofskin.org or contact jofskin@gmail.com.
(DOI: 10.25251/skin.4.4.4)
Jalal Maghfour, MS
Tulane University School of Medicine
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