A CLINICAL SURVEY OF PSORIASIS IN ITALY - 1ST AISP REPORT

Background Psoriasis is present all over the world and its prevalence varies in the different populations and different geographical areas. For example, Northern European countries seem to have rates of inciden ce which are greater than those known for Southern Europe, However, to day there is still a lack of adequate data to allow comparisons at an international level. Methods In Italy in 1994 the AISP (Interdisciplin ary Association for the Study of Psoriasis) co-ordinated the recording of monthly case histories and clinical results relating to psoriasis in patients observed in dermatology centres homogeneously distributed throughout Italy. The results were extrapolated from the overall case series. Results A sample of nearly 8000 cases was collected, most pres enting psoriasis vulgaris, This pathology, prevalent in males, first a ppears at an age somewhere between the teens and twenties. Numerous fa ctors may be involved, and onset is mainly attributed to stress, viral or bacterial infections and pharmacological therapy. Over 90% of case s lost between 1 and 7 working days in the course of the year. Local a nti-psoriasis treatment in monotherapy was administered more frequentl y than systemic therapy or combined therapy. Conclusions The results o f this first Italian epidemiological study confirm that psoriasis is h omogeneously distributed throughout the country. About 50% of patients avail themselves of specialist cures, even several times in the cours e of the year, and use a wide range of therapies which may be more or less demanding, The internal socio-economic cost of the disease is evi dent, particularly in terms of working days lost and/or medical expens es. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.