Black race, male sex increase palmoplantar psoriasis risk in pediatric patients

Key takeaways:

• Black pediatric patients had 6.386-fold increased odds of having palmoplantar psoriasis vs. white pediatric patients.
• Boys had 2.241-fold increased odds of having palmoplantar psoriasis vs. girls.

Black race and male sex increased odds of palmoplantar psoriasis among pediatric patients, according to a study.

“Palmoplantar psoriasis (PP) may manifest as palmoplantar plaque psoriasis (plaques predominate), palmoplantar pustulosis (pustules predominate), or acrodermatitis continua of Hallopeau (localized to distal fingers and toes),” Brittany Roman, BS, of the department of dermatology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “Despite psoriasis being a common condition, there is a paucity of literature on the clinical characteristics of this condition in children, particularly regarding PP.”

A retrospective chart review of pediatric patients treated at a single academic clinic between 2012 and 2022 was conducted and identified 373 subjects with a primary diagnosis of psoriasis. Of these, 330 (71.5% white; 59.1% girls) were included in the study after exclusion data. Fifty of these patients were confirmed to have PP.

Race and ethnicity were identified by the patient and logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between race and PP.

Among those who identified as Black, 41.9% had PP, whereas there were 11.5% with PP among Hispanic/Latino patients and 8.9% among white patients (P < .0001).

Nail involvement was present in 53.2% of the Black group and 50% of those in the Hispanic/Latino group, which the researchers said was significantly more than the 33.9% of the white group with nail involvement (P = .02). More Black patients experienced involvement of palms and soles of their feet (both, P < .0001), whereas more white patients experienced scalp involvement (P = .04).

After logistical regression adjustment, Black patients had 6.386-fold increased odds of PP compared with white patients (P <.0001). The researchers also found that male sex was an independent PP risk factor (adjusted OR = 2.241; P = .02).

“Further research is warranted to better understand the degree to which these associations are affected by racial disparities and environmental factors,” the authors wrote. “There may also be a unique genetic association with Black or male patients and the PP subtype.”