Cardiorespiratory Fitness Among Individuals With Psoriasis in the General Population

Background Psoriasis confers risk for cardiometabolic disorders. Cardiorespiratory fitness is inversely associated with risk of cardiometabolic disorders in other populations, but limited data have been published assessing cardiorespiratory fitness among individuals with psoriasis. This investigation aimed to: 1) assess cardiorespiratory fitness among individuals with psoriasis in the general population; and 2) compare levels to individuals without psoriasis.

Methods A secondary data analysis from the 2003–2004 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey was performed. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed with a treadmill test, while measures of psoriasis severity included rating of psoriasis as a life problem and body surface area involvement.

Results Twenty-six of 1093 participants reported a psoriasis diagnosis (population weighted prevalence 2.9%). Individuals with psoriasis had lower cardiorespiratory fitness compared with individuals without psoriasis (36.2 vs. 39.1 mL∙kg-1∙min-1, P = .009). No differences in self-reported or accelerometer physical activity were found by psoriasis diagnosis. Cardiorespiratory fitness was not significantly lower in those reporting high life impairment or body surface area involvement.

Conclusions Cardiorespiratory fitness may be lower in individuals with psoriasis and these differences may not be explained by self-reported disease severity measures or physical activity. Future studies should examine whether validated measures of psoriasis severity predict lower cardiorespiratory fitness.