Coeliac disease associated with psoriasis

Summary Background  Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the skin reported to be associated with systemic comorbidities. Objectives  To investigate the association between psoriasis and coeliac disease (CD). Methods  Patients with psoriasis were compared with age- and sex-matched controls regarding the prevalence of CD in a case–control study. χ2 and t-tests were used for univariate analysis and a logistic regression model was used for multivariate analysis. The study was performed utilizing the medical database of Clalit Health Services. Results  The study included 12 502 patients with psoriasis aged > 20 years and 24 285 age- and sex-matched controls. The prevalence of CD in patients with psoriasis was increased compared with the prevalence in controls (0·29% and 0·11%, respectively, P < 0·001). In a multivariate analysis psoriasis was associated with CD (odds ratio 2·73, 95% confidence interval 1·65–4·53). Conclusions  Patients with psoriasis have a greater prevalence of CD than matched controls. Recent studies showed a possibility of undiagnosed CD among patients with psoriasis. Therefore, physicians treating patients with psoriasis should be aware of this possible association.