Physician visits for psoriasis and reduced risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes: A nationwide study in Taiwan

Background: 

It is unclear whether women with psoriasis who receive adequate management or achieve better control of their psoriasis before and during pregnancy could eliminate the negative effects.

Objectives: 

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between physician visits for psoriasis and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: 

This study used the National Health Insurance database and Birth Certificate Application in Taiwan. This research further categorized the study subjects into mothers with mild/severe psoriasis who visited physicians for psoriasis before delivery, mothers with mild/severe psoriasis who did not visit a physician for psoriasis before delivery, and mothers without psoriasis. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Results: 

3,339 mothers with severe psoriasis, 41,296 mothers with mild psoriasis, and 2,017,271 mothers without psoriasis were included in this study. The mothers with mild/severe psoriasis demonstrated a significantly higher risk of labor complications and maternal risk factors. After adjusting for confounders, mothers with severe psoriasis who did not visit a physician for psoriasis demonstrated significantly higher odds of labor complications (OR 1.217), maternal risk factors (OR 1.507), having low-birth weight infants (OR 1.236), etc., than mothers without psoriasis.

Conclusion: 

This study demonstrated that mothers with psoriasis had a higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes. In addition, seeking medical care for psoriasis, particularly for women with severe psoriasis, appeared to exert a protective effect against adverse pregnancy outcomes.