Possible correlation of extent of skin involvement with serum uric acid levels in patients with psoriasis at Kenyatta National Hospital - Nairobi.
Abstract
94 patients with psoriasis were studied. It was found
that psoriasis was rare before the third decade of life. Only
11.7% of patients were aged up to 20 years. No patient was
found below the age of ten years. There was a higher prevalence
in males (males 62.8%, females 37.2%). The tribal distribution
was as expected in keeping with the geographical location of
Kenyatta National Hospital. Thus the Kikuyu were the majority
with 75.7 percentage. This, however, does not tell us much
about the nation-wide prevalence of psoriasis amongst the
various other tribes of Kenya. Just a little more than half
the patients had psoriasis involving more than 10% of the skin
surface, i.e. 57.4%. 29.8% had high serum uric acid. There
was a strong positive correlation between serum uric acid levels
and the extent of skin involvement, r = 0.82 and P< 0.001.
Citation
Masters of MedicinePublisher
University of Nairobi School of Medicine