IBS Associated With 35% Higher Long-Term Risk of Psoriasis
Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) had a 35% higher risk of developing psoriasis compared with those without IBS in a large prospective cohort study, with the association generally consistent across multiple patient subgroups.
Investigators analyzed data from 437,170 UK Biobank participants without psoriasis at baseline to evaluate the long-term risk of incident psoriasis among patients with IBS. Participants were classified into IBS and non-IBS groups using ICD-10 codes, and incident psoriasis during follow-up served as the primary outcome.
Of the overall cohort, 21,748 participants (5.0%) had IBS. During a median follow-up of 14.4 years, 4325 participants (1.0%) developed psoriasis.
The cumulative incidence of psoriasis was 0.88% (95% CI, 0.73%-1.02%) among participants with IBS compared with 0.69% (95% CI, 0.66%-0.72%) among those without IBS. In multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, IBS was associated with a 35% greater risk of incident psoriasis (HR, 1.35; 95% CI, 1.19-1.52).
Subgroup analyses generally demonstrated a higher psoriasis risk associated with IBS across categories of age, sex, Townsend deprivation index, smoking status, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, C-reactive protein levels, and psoriasis polygenic risk score.
“The IBS patients in our sample had an increased long-term risk of incident psoriasis,” the investigators concluded.
Although the study identified an association between IBS and subsequent psoriasis, the findings do not establish a causal relationship. The investigators noted that IBS and psoriasis may share pathophysiological features, warranting further investigation into mechanisms potentially linking the 2 conditions.
Reference
Qiu Y, Zhou Y, Liu S, et al. Long-term risk of incident psoriasis in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a large-scale prospective cohort study. J Glob Health. 2026;16:04140. doi:10.7189/jogh.16.04140
