Prevalence and demographic characteristics of psoriatic arthritis in Colombia: Data from the National Health Registry 2012–2018

Introduction: Psoriatic arthritis is an inflammatory arthritis with a wide range of manifestations. The complexity of the disease is a barrier to understanding it, however knowledge about the disease has increased considerably over time, due to advances in genetics, immunology, imaging, and a better understanding of epidemiology. The exact prevalence is unknown, and its calculation is difficult due to the use of different diagnostic or classificatory criteria throughout the last decades. The present work aims to establish the prevalence of psoriatic arthritis in Colombia and to describe the basic demographic characteristics of patients with this disease from the official administrative clinical records of the Colombian Ministry of Health. Objective: To estimate the prevalence and describe the main demographic characteristics of psoriatic arthritis in Colombia. Methodology and methods: Cross-sectional study, based on official Ministry of Health registry data. Results: 6433 cases of psoriatic arthritis (ICD-10 code: M070, M071, M072, M073, L405) were reported between 2012 and 2018, for a prevalence in people over 18 years of 13.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, with a slight predominance of the female population (53%), with a female: male ratio of 1.12: 1, and a higher prevalence in the 55–59 year age group. Additionally, 149,130 cases of psoriasis were identified (ICD-10 code: L400, L401, L402, L403, L404, L408, L409), for a prevalence of psoriatic arthritis of 5.8% in psoriasis patients. Conclusions: This is the first study to present demographic information on psoriatic arthritis in Colombia. Data from our study show a lower prevalence compared to other similar studies in the region.