Cognitive impairment in patients with severe psoriasis

• Main Authors: Luiza Marek-Józefowicz, Marcin Jaracz, Waldemar Placek, Rafał Czajkowski, Alina Borkowska
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Termedia Publishing House 2017-04-01
• Series: Advances in Dermatology and Allergology
• Subjects: psoriasis; cognitive functions; executive functions; depression; prefrontal cortex
• Online Access: https://www.termedia.pl/Cognitive-impairment-in-patients-with-severe-psoriasis,7,29789,1,1.html

Introduction : Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, in which an important role is played by psychological factors. Aim : To evaluate the frontal cognitive functions in patients with psoriasis. Material and methods : The study included 188 subjects (97 patients with psoriasis and 91 healthy controls). To assess the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex functions, the Trail Making Test and the Stroop test were applied. Severity of psoriasis was assessed by means of the PASI index. Results : Compared to healthy subjects, psoriatics scored lower in neuropsychological tests assessing memory and executive functions. Conclusions : Cognitive dysfunction disclosed by neuropsychological assessment of frontal functions was evident in patients with psoriasis.