Compared with patients with psoriasis and healthy individuals, patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) have a higher overall comorbidity burden, according to a study published in JAMA Dermatology.

A total of 5306 patients with HS (mean age, 43.7 years) were included in this cross-sectional analysis. Researchers compared data from these patients with electronic health records data of healthy controls (mean age, 51.9 years; n=1,733,810) and people with psoriasis (mean age, 58.0 years; n=14,037). The mean Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) score was compared between groups. Additionally, the investigators assessed the association between the CCI score and 5-year mortality in patients with HS.

The matched cohorts were each comprised of 3818 patients (mean age, 45.7 years). Prior to matching, the psoriasis cohort had the highest overall mean CCI score (2.33), followed by patients with HS (1.80) and healthy controls (1.26). Matching resulted in the HS group having the highest overall mean CCI score (1.95) compared with the psoriasis (1.47; P <.001) and healthy control (0.95; P <.001) groups.

In the HS cohort, 516 patients (13.5%) had an overall mean CCI score of ≥5, and the most common comorbidities included chronic pulmonary disease (40.3%), diabetes with chronic complications (9.6%), diabetes without chronic complications (24.3%), and mild liver disease (11.9%). Patients in the HS cohort who had a CCI score of ≥5 demonstrated a 4.97 (95% CI, 1.49-16.63) times greater adjusted risk for5-year mortality vs patients with HS and a CCI score of 0.

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Limitations of the study include its retrospective nature as well as the lack of assessment of HS disease severity on the CCI.

“The degree of comorbidity burden among patients with HS may warrant multidisciplinary implementation of counseling and screening measures, with the goals of prevention and early detection of identified comorbidities,” the researchers wrote.

Disclosures: This study was supported in part by an education grant from AbbVie. Amit Garg, MD, has served as a consultant to AbbVie, Pfizer, Janssen, and Asana Biosciences; received honoraria from AbbVie, Pfizer, Janssen, and Asana Biosciences; and received research grants from AbbVie and UCB.

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Reference

Reddy S, Strunk A, Garg A. Comparative overall comorbidity burden among patients with hidradenitis suppurativa [published online April 17, 2019]. JAMA Dermatol. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2019.0164

