Clinical Characteristics Analysis Between Childhood-onset And Adult-onset Psoriasis Vulgaris In Chinese Han Population

Background Psoriasis is a common, chronic and recurent inflammatory skin disease, clinically characterized by erythematous papules and plaques covered with silvery scale, prevalence varies with race and geographical location. Psoriasis affects 2～3% of the European population, is less common in individuals of Asian descent (0.123% of Chinese Han population). It is estimated that more than 400 million people in China suffering from psoriasis. Several clinical phenotypes of psoriasis are recognised, with psoriasis vulgaris (PV) accounting for 90% of cases. The pathogenesis of the psoriasis is not fully understood, the evidence, to date, indicates that both genetic and environmental factors interact to precipitate the development of psoriasis, with many different phenotypes. Several studies showed that strong association between age of onset and family history, as well as disease severity and BMI. Advances in studies on clinical characteristics of psoriasis vulgaris not only for the understanding the pathogenesis of the psoriasis but also a great help in improving diagnosis and treatment of psoriasis. Compared with abroad study, few studies on clinical characteristics analysis with PV in Chinese Han have been published.Objectives To analyze the clinical characteristics between childhood-onset and adult-onset PV in Chinese Han population.Methods A total of 529 childhood-onset PV ages 1-18 years and 1486 adult-onset PV ages 18-80 years were evaluated between January 2007 and June 2010. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS10.0. Results The male-to-female ratio of childhood-onset and adult-onset patients was 0.98:1 and 1.68:1, respectively, and more males were affected in adult-onse patients (P<0.01). Comparing with adult-onset PV, the incidence of family history of psoriasis was significantly higher in childhood-onset PV (P<0.01), as well as facial (P<0.01), neck (P<0.05), trunk (P<0.05) and hand (P<0.01) involvement. A chi-aquare test showed the association between the severity degree of psoriasis and Koebner reaction (P<0.01) with a Pearson's contiongency coefficient 0.074. PASI score, seasonal incidence and Koebner reaction had no significant difference between childhood-onset and adult-onset PV in Chinese Han population.Conclusion Patients with childhood-onset PV show some different clinical characteristics comparing with adulthood-onset PV in Chinese Han population, they may have different genetic background. To study their susceptibility genes by age-stratified is feasible in Chinese Han population.