Medical history, drug exposure and the risk of psoriasis. Evidence from an Italian case-control study.

Background/aims: To evaluate the association of psoriasis with selected medical conditions and a number of drugs used before diagnosis.

Methods: Multicenter case-control study involving outpatient services of 20 general and teaching hospitals. Entry criteria for cases were a first diagnosis of psoriasis made by a dermatologist and a history of skin manifestations of no more than 2 years after the reported onset of the disease.

Cigarette smoking, body mass index, and stressful life events as risk factors for psoriasis: results from an Italian case-control study.

We conducted a case-control study to analyse the association of psoriasis of recent onset with smoking habits, body mass index (BMI) and stressful life events. Cases (n=560; median age 38) were patients with a first diagnosis of psoriasis and a history of skin manifestations of no longer than two years after the reported disease onset. Patients with a new diagnosis of skin diseases other than psoriasis (n=690; median age 36) were selected as controls.