Psoriasis in Children: A Clinical and Demographic Overview at a Tertiary Hospital

Background: Psoriasis is a serious chronic, systemic, inflammatory disease which is present in up to 2% of children. Diagnosis and treatment of pediatric psoriasis is challenging due to variation in manifestations and symptoms according to age and limited studies regarding therapy. This study aims to provide an insight to the clinical and demographic profile of pediatric psoriasis in a tertiary hospital in Indonesia. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted using data obtained from medical records between 2022 and 2023 at Dermatology and Venereology outpatient clinic, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National General Hospital, as the national referral and teaching hospital in Indonesia. Results: Pediatric psoriasis most commonly occurs at age 10.71 ± 5.57 with a 1.5:1 ratio between female and male. Plaque psoriasis was the most prevalent clinical variant (56%), and 93% were severe cases. Most patients were normoweight (76%), although there were cases of obesity and risk of obesity recorded, which count as a comorbidity. Familial history was recorded in 12% of the patients. All patients were given moisturizer, along with topical therapy or in combination with systemic or phototherapy. All patients showed good results to treatment as measured by a marked reduction in symptoms and clinical manifestations. Conclusions: The age of onset, severity, psoriasis type, and treatment given in this study may differ from other studies since the data were obtained from a tertiary referral hospital in Indonesia. The findings reveal valuable information into the distribution and characteristics of pediatric psoriasis and highlight the need for tailored healthcare interventions.