Frequency of New Onset Diabetes Mellitus Type II in Patients of Psoriasis Attending Tertiary Care Hospital

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of new onset diabetes mellitus type II in patients of psoriasis attending tertiary care hospital. METHODS: This cross-sectional study done in the out-patient department, Department of Dermatology, Dow University of Health Sciences & Civil Hospital Karachi. Diagnosed cases of psoriasis meeting the inclusion criteria were selected and relevant history taken. Fasting blood sugar levels were checked two times. Informed consent was taken from all the patients. Categorical variables were expressed in frequency and percentage, whereas numerical variables were expressed in mean and standard deviation. Stratification was done with regards to age, gender and duration of psoriasis 1-5 years, to find out the effect of duration upon onset of Diabetes. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. RESULTS: Of 114 patients 63 (55.3%) were less than 50 years of age with mean age of 48.8 +/- 7.3 years and 77 (67.5%) were male with male to female ratio of 2.1:1. Of 114 patients, 68 (59.6%) had duration of psoriasis less than 2 years with mean duration of 3.5 +/- 2.3 years. Of 114 patients, 9 (7.9%) had blood sugar > 126 mg/dl with mean blood sugar 113 +/- 24.2 mg/dl. Frequency of new onset type II diabetes was 9 (7.9%). Stratified analysis showed that new onset type II DM is more common in female patients of < 50 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded from this study that patients with psoriasis are at the risk of developing type II diabetes and these patients should be screened for diabetes.