Abstract
BACKGROUND: In more than one-third of the psoriatic population, the first manifestations occur in childhood. Whether the age of onset of psoriasis influences the march of psoriasis is not known. OBJECTIVES: To describe the epidemiology and clinical features as well as prescribed treatments and familial distribution in psoriasis depending on the age of onset of the disease. METHODS: A structured questionnaire was sent to 5300 adult psoriatic patients. Respondents were divided into two groups: patients who experienced an onset of disease before the age of 18 [childhood onset psoriasis (COP)] and patients with an onset of disease from the age of 18 [adult onset psoriasis (AOP)]. RESULTS: Questionnaires of 1926 (36.3%) patients were suitable for analysis. In 37.1% of patients, first signs of the disease occurred before the age of 18. COP occurs predominantly in females, has a longer delay in diagnosis and a higher frequency of familial distribution. The development of guttate and erythrodermic psoriasis in adulthood is more frequently seen in COP. In contrast to common belief, type of psoriasis in COP often remains the same from childhood to adulthood. There was no evidence found that getting psoriasis before the age of 18 years influences development of high body mass index in adulthood, disease severity in later life or type of treatments used. CONCLUSIONS: The age of onset of psoriasis essentially does not influence the subsequent course of the disease in adulthood.
