The prevalence of psoriasis in African Americans: results from a population-based study.
BACKGROUND
Psoriasis is a common disease with substantial effects on quality of life. The prevalence of psoriasis in African Americans has been previously reported as rare. However, there have been no population-based studies to assess the prevalence and burden of psoriasis in African Americans.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to measure the prevalence and burden of psoriasis in African Americans compared with Caucasians.


METHODS
Patients were randomly selected from the United States population and were asked standard demographic questions. Patients who reported a physician diagnosis of psoriasis were asked additional questions related to quality of life.


RESULTS
The total sample included 27,220 individuals of which 21,921 were Caucasian and 2443 were African American. The prevalence of psoriasis was 2.5% in Caucasian patients and was 1.3% in African American patients. African Americans had an approximately 52% reduction in the prevalence of psoriasis compared with Caucasians ( P < .0001). African Americans and Caucasians had similar impacts on quality of life and treatment satisfaction based on single global questions.


CONCLUSIONS
Although psoriasis is less common in African Americans than in Caucasians, it is not rare in either demographic and carries a substantial burden in both groups.
Gelfand
Joel M
JM
Department of Dermatology and Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania, PA 19104, USA. Joel.Gelfand@uphs.upenn.edu <Joel.Gelfand@uphs.upenn.edu>
Stern
Robert S
RS
Nijsten
Tamar
T
Feldman
Steven R
SR
Thomas
John
J
Kist
Joe
J
Rolstad
Tara
T
Margolis
David J
DJ
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data