Evaluation of knowledge, attitudes and practices of psoriasis patients on vaccination

Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory disease that affects approximately 2% of the population worldwide. Its pathogenesis is not fully understood. The etiology focuses on the effects of genetic and environmental factors. There are several subtypes including chronic plaque, guttate, erythrodermic, pustular, flexural, palmoplantar plaque and nail. The most common subtype is chronic plaque psoriasis, characterized by erythematous scaly plaques. Treatment options may vary depending on the clinical type, severity and duration of the disease, previous treatments and response. Topical treatments, phototherapy, systemic conventional treatments and biological treatments are used in treatment. The tendency to systemic infections increases in individuals with chronic diseases due to the effects of immunosuppressive drugs used. The majority of these infections can be prevented with appropriate vaccination programs. In our study, demographic characteristics of 320 psoriasis patients, disease clinical subtypes and disease severity, treatments used in the past and currently, the effect of the disease or treatments on quality of life, knowledge levels about adult vaccination schedule and vaccination rates were examined by survey method. In addition, the vaccination rates of the patients were evaluated with quality of life scales. Vaccination rates were higher than the literature data for hepatitis B and adult-type tetanus-diphtheria, similar to the literature for influenza and coronavirus disease-19 vaccines, and lower than the literature rates for pneumococcal and herpes zoster vaccines. Approximately two-thirds of the patients had received a recommendation for vaccination. Most of those who received a recommendation for vaccination were recommended by a dermatologist. The rate of patients who stated that they knew the difference between live and killed vaccines was similar to the data in the literature, and the rate of patients who were informed that live vaccines should be avoided while using immunosuppressive therapy was higher than the literature data. The Psoriasis Area Severity Index and Dermatology Life Quality Index scores of our patients were lower than the literature data. We believe that if psoriasis patients are included in vaccination programs and their vaccination status is regularly monitored through an electronic system, the awareness of both physicians and patients about vaccination and the vaccination rates will increase. Key words: Psoriasis, Vaccination, Psoriasis Area Severity Index