Psoriatic arthritis with psychological comorbidities: an overview of systematic reviews on incidence, prevalence, and geographic disparities

Systematic reviews and meta-analysis evaluating the prevalence, incidence, and psychological comorbidities of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are increasing, so it's time to perform an overview of systematic reviews. To summarize the pooled prevalence, incidence, and psychological comorbidities rates of PsA, and to explore possible continent disparities. In this overview of systematic reviews the CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and PubMed were searched to October 25, 2023. This overview included systematic reviews with meta-analysis of people with PsA, providing the pooled prevalence or incidence rates of PsA in general, or clinical populations and/or psychological comorbidities. The Preferred Reporting Items for Overviews of Reviews (PRIOR) statement was followed. AMSTAR-2 assessed the quality of reviews. The degree of overlap was calculated using the corrected covered area (CCA). Maps were developed using the location of where primary studies were conducted using DataWrapper App. The protocol was prospectively registered with Open Science Framework registry. Pooled prevalence and incidence rates of PsA or its associated psychological comorbidities in general or specific populations. We also collected locations from the primary studies of the included meta-analyses. Only the assessment of prevalence rates of PsA in people with psoriasis showed slight overlap (CCA = 3.3%). Items 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 13 were poorly reported in AMSTAR-2. The pooled prevalence of PsA ranged from 0.13 to 0.15% in the general population, and 15.5% to 19.7% in people with psoriasis. The pooled incidence of PsA ranged from 8.26 to 9.27 cases per 100,000 inhabitants to 0.87 cases in individuals with hidradenitis suppurativa. The pooled prevalence of psychological comorbidities was 11.9-20% for depression, 19-33% anxiety, 38% alexithymia, and 72.9% in poor sleep quality. Only the pooled incidence of depression was assessed with 21.3 per 1000-person year. PsA seems to be prevalent and incident not only in people with psoriasis, but also in general population. Depression and anxiety symptoms may be present in some patients with PsA. Finally, continent disparities exist, and methodological and clinical issues were found, which could be helpful in the future agenda of the epidemiology of PsA.