Psoriasis independent risk factor for developing neovascular AMD in Diabetes patients, suggests research
Psoriasis is an independent risk factor for developing neovascular AMD in Diabetes patients, suggests research published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology.
The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship of psoriasis and neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) in diabetic mellitus (DM) population. Records of patients who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus over 40 years of age from January 2009 to December 2012 were analyzed. The incidence of neovascular AMD was observed from the index year to December 2018 in all subjects. We compared the incidence rate of neovascular AMD among the psoriasis group and control group.
Covariates include age, sex, BMI, income level, smoking status, drinking status, regular exercise habits, hypertension, dyslipidemia, end-stage renal disease, diabetic retinopathy, glucose level, the prescription of more than three oral hypoglycemic agents, and a history of diabetes mellitus exceeding five years. Results: Of 2,245,358 type 2 DM patients, 20,853 patients were classified in the psoriasis group, and the other 2,224,505 individuals in the control group. A total of 105 neovascular AMD cases occurred in the psoriasis group and 7,459 cases in the control group.
According to multivariable Cox proportional hazard models, individuals with psoriasis had a significantly higher risk for neovascular AMD compared to controls (HR=1.329, 95% confidence interval: 1.096-1.612) after adjustments for covariates. This study demonstrated that psoriasis was an independent risk factor for developing neovascular AMD in DM patients. Therefore, physicians should be alert to the development of neovascular AMD in DM patients who also have psoriasis.
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