Psoriasis a Significant Risk Factor for Lower Rates of Pregnancy and Live Births
Presented at EADV
Source: DGNews
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By Jenny Powers
PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- October 2, 2012 -- Women aged ≤35 years who have been
diagnosed with psoriasis have an elevated risk of poor pregnancy outcome and
failure to conceive compared with women without psoriasis, according to a study
presented here at the 21st Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and
enereology (EADV).
ôPsoriasis should be viewed as an inflammatory disease that is a significant
risk factor for poorer pregnancy outcomes,ö explained Jennifer C. Cather, MD,
Modern Dermatology, A Baylor Health Texas Affiliate, Dallas, Texas, on
September 29.
Dr. Cather led a team in analysing data from 30,773 matched pairs of women
(mean age, 45 years) with and without diagnosed psoriasis from the Thomson
Reuters MarketScan Research databases from 2000 to 2007 and comparing the rates
of pregnancy and live births.
On the whole, women with psoriasis had significantly lower pregnancy rates and
decreased rates of live births than women without psoriasis (3.1% vs 3.6% and
1.4% vs 2.1%, respectively). After adjusting for potential confounders, women
in the psoriasis group were 16% less likely to become pregnant (odds ratio [OR]
0.84) and 35% less likely to have live births (OR 0.65) than women in the
no-psoriasis cohort (both P < .01).
Among 7,374 matched pairs of women who were ≤35 years of age, those with
psoriasis had significantly lower rates of pregnancy than women without
psoriasis (9.4% vs 11.7%). The live-birth rates for this age group were 4.4%
versus 7.1%, respectively. Women in the younger psoriasis cohort were 22% less
likely to become pregnant (OR = 0.78) and had a 39% less likelihood for a
pregnancy to result in a live birth (OR = 0.61) than the age-matched
psoriasis-free cohort (both P < .01).
There was no significant association with psoriasis and either pregnancy or
live-birth rates in women ≥35 years of age.
Patient characteristics such as demographics, comorbidities (including diabetes
and hypertension), and evidence of risk factors (eg, obesity and smoking) were
compared between women with and without psoriasis. Rates of pregnancy and live
births were also compared during a 1-year follow-up period.
Dr. Cather noted that few studies have been conducted on pregnancy outcomes in
women with psoriasis in the US population. Previous studies that have found a
link between psoriasis and pregnancy outcome ôhave been done in small-sized,
specific subgroups of women with psoriasis,ö she said.
[Presentation title: Psoriasis Is Significantly Associated With Lower
Rates of Pregnancy and Live Births, Abstract P921]