Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin condition often associated with comorbidities that may impact cognitive function. This study aims to determine if psoriasis is associated with the risk of cognitive impairment and to assess the relationship between cognitive impairment and various disease-related factors, including psoriasis severity, disease duration, and the presence of psoriatic arthropathy, using the Virtual Cognitive Assessment Tool (VCAT).
Materials and methods: A total of 160 individuals were selected, comprising 80 psoriasis patients and 80 controls, matched for age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, education levels, and prevalence of comorbidities. Cognitive function was assessed using the VCAT. The relationship between cognitive impairment and various disease-related factors, including psoriasis severity measured using Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI scores), disease duration, and the presence of psoriatic arthropathy, was examined.
Results: The mean VCAT scores for the psoriasis and control groups were 25.38 (SD = 3.18) and 25.94 (SD = 2.67), respectively, with no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.227). While most cognitive domains showed no significant differences, the VCAT attention sub-score was significantly lower in psoriasis patients (p < 0.05). There was no significant association between psoriasis and cognitive impairment. No significant association was found between cognitive function and PASI scores nor psoriatic arthropathy. A negative association was found between disease duration and VCAT scores, suggesting longer disease duration correlates with lower cognitive function (p = 0.05).
Conclusions: This study did not find broad cognitive impairment in psoriasis patients compared to controls, the specific deficit in attention and its association with the duration of psoriasis warrants further investigation. Understanding and addressing the cognitive aspects of psoriasis could significantly improve the overall quality of life for these patients.