Smoking and alcohol intake in severely affected patients with psoriasis in Germany.

Background: Smoking and alcohol may contribute as triggering factors for psoriasis and are substantial for managing severely affected psoriasis patients. Objectives: To evaluate the general state of smoking and alcohol intake in a group of hospitalized, severely affected patients with psoriasis in comparison with the general population of Germany. Methods: A retrospective, multicentre study analysing data from 1,203 patients with severe psoriasis was performed. Results: 43.3% of all patients were found to be active smokers (males: 46.6%; females: 39.2%) with a higher likelihood as the control group (odds ratio, OR, 2.08, 95% confidence interval, CI, 1.81–2.39; p Conclusion: Smoking and alcohol intake are independently associated with severe forms of psoriasis. Disease severity is correlated with smoking in both genders as well as with alcohol intake in female patients.