1.Clinical characteristics of psoriasis and current status of medical care for patients in county areas of China
Min LI ; Bo ZHANG ; Wenjun WANG ; Yixuan ZHANG ; He HUANG ; Yihe WANG ; Hao JIANG ; Daihua TAN ; Lina CHEN ; Yuxiu JIANG ; Yingyou ZHAO ; Qunli ZHAO ; Xianyong YIN ; Liangdan SUN ; Furen ZHANG ; Xinghua GAO ; Yong CUI ; Xuejun ZHANG
Chinese Journal of General Practitioners 2024;23(11):1155-1161
Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics of psoriasis and status quo of medical care for patients in county areas of China.Methods:This study was a cross-sectional investigation. Based on the “Qianxian Wuyin” Project (a national project for upgrating ability for psoriasis care at county level), an online questionnaire survey was conducted in the dermatology departments of 459 county hospitals in 404 pilot administrative counties across China from February to June 2023. The questionnaire included demographic information of patients (gender, ethnicity, age, place of residence, education, marital status), and clinical characteristics of psoriasis (disease course, type, comorbidities, body surface area (BSA) and previous treatment. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) were applied for assessing the quality of life and disease severity, and completed by patients or guardian and doctors, respectively.Results:A total of 16 935 patients completed the questionnaire. The age of patients was 1-102(44.17±11.58)years, and 71.0% (12 036/16 935) were 30-59 years old. The ratio of male to female was 2.21∶1; 24.3%(4 117/16 935) of patients had high school education; there were 9 940 patients(58.7%) with previous or current smoking and/or alcohol use; 42.8%(7 218/16 855) of patients had a disease course of 1-5 years. There were 15 630 patients(92.3%) with DLQI≥10, 8 346 patients(49.7%) with PASI≥10, 15 017 patients(89.2%) with BSA≥10%. The plaque type was the most common disease type ( n=14 965, 88.7%), and spotting type ranked the second ( n=1 141, 6.8%). The most common initial site was the trunk ( n=12 309, 72.9%). Among the comorbidities, hypertension was the most common one ( n=1 681, 10.0%). There were 7 650 reports of treatment response to conventional topical drug therapy and 3 112 reports of treatment response to systemic drug therapy, with 6 269 (81.9%) and 2 493 (80.1%) reporting poor or no response, respectively. Conclusions:The survey shows that in the county areas of China, the majority of psoriasis patients are severe patients with short course of disease, plaque type is the most common type, and hypertension is the most common comorbidity; and the conventional treatment is less effective for most patients.