Prevalence of RA and Psoriasis is High in Patients With Actinic Keratosis

Patients with actinic keratoses (AKs) had high associations with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriasis but not Behçet disease, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis, or multiple sclerosis.

“The current study aimed to find the associations between AK and systemic inflammatory diseases, including [RA], psoriasis, Behçet disease, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis, and multiple sclerosis,” explained the study authors.

Researchers performed a population-based retrospective cohort study that used a large nationwide database to investigate the associations between AKs and systemic inflammatory diseases. Patients over 20 years of age and newly diagnosed with AK between January 2012 and December 2017, who had not been diagnosed with AK at least 5 years before enrollment, were included in the study. Associations between AK and other inflammatory diseases were analyzed with statistical tests.

Study results showed that patients with AK had higher odds for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis compared with the control group. Associations between patients with AK and

Behçet disease, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis, and multiple sclerosis in the AK group were not statistically significant.

“To our knowledge, this is the first epidemiological study to investigate the associations between systemic inflammatory diseases and AK based on a large nationwide database,” concluded the study authors.

Reference
Kim HJ, Kim YH, Yun SY, Yu DS, Lee YB. Association of actinic keratosis with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis: a nationwide population-based study in Korea. Acta Derm Venereol. 2021;101(7):adv00510. doi:10.2340/00015555-3877