A study of clinico-demographic profile of patients with psoriasis at tertiary health care centre

 

Harnalikar Manoj¹, Patil Reshma Tanaji^2*

 

¹Associate Professor, ²Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology Dr.Shankar Rao Chavan Government Medical College Nanded, Maharashtra, INDIA.

Email: drmanojh@gmail.com

 

Abstract              Background: Psoriasis is a common, chronic, disfiguring, inflammatory and proliferative condition of the skin, in which both genetic and environmental influences have a critical role. It is a disease with profound impact on the psychological and social aspect of the patient, particularly because of its visibility. Aim and Objectives: To study clinico-demographic profile of patients with psoriasis at tertiary health care centre Material and Methods: It’s a cross sectional, observational study consisting of a total of 50 cases of chronic plaque psoriasis after inclusion criteria’s were satisfied. The source for psoriasis cases was two major hospitals attached to J.J.M. Medical College, Davangere for a period of 2 years from November 2010 to October 2012. Results: There were 41 male and 9 female patients. Mean age of onset of psoriasis was 33.6 years. Mean duration of disease was 7.3 years. Majority of patients had itching of various degree (90%). Majority of patients noticed exacerbation of lesions during winter season and head, trunk, upper limbs and lower limbs (64%) were most affected sites. Nail involvement was seen in majority of patients (74%) with pitting being most common nail abnormality. Conclusions: Psoriasis affects quality of life. Effective counseling of the patients, family members, friends, and people at the working place can be very effective for patients to come forward for early treatment which can contribute to a good control of the disease.

Key Words: chronic plaque psoriasis.