Prevalence of weight loss attempts and behaviors used by individuals with psoriasis in the United States population

Abstract

Objective: To examine weight loss behaviors of individuals with psoriasis in the American population and compare them to individuals without psoriasis.

Methods: An analysis of data from the 2011–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was conducted. A total of 9174 Americans were included, with 232 self-reporting psoriasis. Measures included weight history and subjective physical activity, as well as the prevalence of weight loss attempts and weight loss behaviors over the past 12 months.

Results: Participants with psoriasis were no more likely to have attempted to lose weight than participants without psoriasis (46.3 vs. 38.2%, p = .161). Likewise, the proportion of participants with psoriasis desiring to weigh less was similar to those without psoriasis (67.4 vs. 61.9%; p = .277). Only 48.0% of participants with psoriasis employed exercise to lose weight, as compared to 62.4% without psoriasis (p = .027). Among participants that attempted to lose weight, only 16.1% with psoriasis engaged in vigorous recreational physical activity, as compared to 28% of individuals without psoriasis (p = .042).

Conclusions: Participants self-reporting psoriasis were less likely to use exercise to lose weight. Clinicians should identify physical activity barriers among overweight/obese psoriasis patients, especially among those attempting to reduce weight.

Keywords:

• Dermatology
• exercise
• lifestyle
• obesity

Acknowledgments

NHANES is a major program of the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Disclosure statement

The author declares he has no conflicts of interest to disclose. No funding was used to draft this manuscript.