Association between the severity of hard-to-treat psoriasis and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome: A hospital-based cross-sectional study in Jakarta, Indonesia

Psoriatic lesions on the scalp, face, intertriginous, genitals, palms/soles, and nails are often delay diagnosed, hard-to-treat, and cause disability. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is one of the most frequent and significant comorbidities in psoriasis. Many studies have discovered a link between psoriasis and MetS, but none have specifically assessed the hard-to-treat psoriasis in Indonesian population. This is a multicenter study involving four dermatology referral hospitals to investigate the association between psoriasis severity that has hard-to-treat lesions with the prevalence of MetS in Jakarta, Indonesia. Data was collected from April to October 2022. The severity of 84 hard-to-treat psoriasis patients was measured by Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) scores. The participants divided into PASI score >10 (severe) and <= 10 (mild-moderate) groups. MetS was identified based on the modified National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. MetS was found in 64.3% of patients. Patients with a PASI score>10 had a significantly higher risk of metabolic syndrome compared to those with a score <= 10 (78.6% vs 50%, OR 3.667; 95% CI 1.413-9.514; p = 0.006). The prevalence of hypertension (p = 0.028), low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (p = 0.01), mean fasting blood sugar (p = 0.018), and triglyceride levels (p = 0.044) between the two groups differed significantly. This study found most frequent components of MetS were abdominal obesity, decreased levels of HDL cholesterol, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hypertriglyceridemia respectively. Individuals with severe hard-to-treat psoriasis had a 3.67 times more likely to have MetS rather than the mild-moderate group.