1. ^*The National Psoriasis Foundation, Portland, Oregon
2. ^†Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Department of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Department of Dermatology, Boston, Massachusetts
3. ^‡Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
4. ^§University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Correspondence: Robert S. Stern, MD, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Dermatology, GZ 522, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. Email: rstern@bidmc.harvard.edu

Received 2 May 2003; Revised 12 August 2003; Accepted 19 August 2003; Published online 15 March 2004.

Abstract

The impact of psoriasis on quality of life has been studied in select patient populations. Population-based data detailing the distribution of extent of disease, associated problems in everyday life, and treatment satisfaction for the US population have been lacking. Our population-based survey indicates that approximately 4.5 million adults have been diagnosed as having psoriasis. Most (59%) have little or no involvement, but 650,000 adults have at least three palms of body surface involved and more than 1,000,000 indicate substantial dissatisfaction with their treatment. Only 5% of patients (56,000) who report severe dissatisfaction with current therapy have extensive disease (10 palms). Many individuals with little psoriasis at the time of interview considered the disease to be a large problem in everyday life.