Tanning addiction in psoriasis patients

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The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of excessive sun exposure (ESE) as a proxy for tanning addiction in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis and to identify the factors associated with this behaviour.

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Background:
Tanning addiction is a behavioral addiction characterized by an irrepressible desire for sun or ultraviolet light exposure. It is thought to affect 10% to 25% of the population.

Objectives:
This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of this behavior in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis and identify associated factors.

Methods:
A cross-sectional study of baseline data from patients included in the PsoBioTeq cohort between 2012 and 2022. Tanning addiction was approximated by patient-reported excessive sun exposure (ESE), defined by the response “I try to expose myself to the sun as often as possible” to a registry question on current behavior. Factors associated with ESE including clinical characteristics, psoriasis and medical history, and previous treatments were also analyzed.

Results:
Among 3705 patients included in the analysis, 636 (17.2%) reported ESE. In multivariate analysis, being younger (OR 0.97, 95% CI [0.96; 0.97]) and female (OR 1.52, 95% CI [1.20; 1.93]), and having a normal weight (OR 0.57, 95% CI [0.42; 0.77]), intermediate skin phenotype (OR 1.80, 95% CI [1.36; 2.38]), and history of phototherapy (OR 1.53, 95% CI [1.19; 1.96]) were associated with a higher ESE risk, whereas previous ustekinumab treatment (OR 0.40, 95% CI [0.19; 0.84]) was associated with a lower ESE risk.

Conclusions:
The prevalence of ESE in patients with psoriasis was 17% and revealed demographic factors that may help to identify the patient population most risk of ESE behavior. Education about photoprotection and optimal rapid control of psoriasis may be particularly important for this population.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com

*Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this study.