Hospitalization Predictors of Readmission for Psoriasis

US patients hospitalized for psoriasis had high rates of hospital readmission overall, but low rates of readmission for psoriasis specifically, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

The study was an analysis of data from the 2012 to 2014 Nationwide Readmissions Database, a representative sample of hospital readmissions in the United States.

Among 2606 people admitted for psoriasis, the all-cause readmission rate was 35.2%. The readmission rate for psoriasis per se was 8.3%, according to the study.

“The mean annual cost of first readmission for any reason was $3,500,141,” researchers wrote, “with $8,357,961 for subsequent readmissions.”

According to the study, a subset of patients was hospitalized repeatedly and behind most costs.

Readmission for psoriasis was associated with an index hospitalization of 6 days or more (adjusted hazard ratio of 1.82), teaching hospital (1.93), comorbid skin infection (2.13), and hospitalization in the autumn (4.51), the study found. Readmission for psoriasis was inversely associated with other infections (0.49).

“Future interventions are needed to lower readmission rates among psoriasis patients,” researchers advised. —Jolynn Tumolo