Is dietary supplementation more common among adults with psoriasis? Results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Objectives: Individuals with psoriasis are often unsatisfied with traditional medical treatments and may be more likely to use dietary supplements as alternative or complementary treatment. Limited data is available on the prevalence of dietary supplement use amongst individuals with psoriasis in the general population. The aim was to utilize a representative sample of the United States to estimate the prevalence of dietary supplement use among adults self-reporting psoriasis. Design and setting: Cross-sectional data analysis from the 2009 to 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Dietary supplementation over the past 30 days was ascertained and population weights were used to obtain estimates representative of the general population. Logistic regression was used to determine whether psoriasis was associated with higher odds of supplement use. Results: This study consisted of 6211 participants aged >= 20 years (representing 219 million Americans). Among the 184 participants reporting psoriasis (representing 6.9 million Americans), 53% reported using at least one dietary supplement, which was not different from participants without psoriasis (49.5%, P=0.416). Participants with psoriasis did not have higher odds of supplement use after adjusting for covariates. Multivitamin/mineral supplements were the most common dietary supplements used by participants with psoriasis (29.6%), and the most common reasons for taking them were to maintain and improve health. Only 12 supplements taken by participants with psoriasis were intended to improve skin health. Conclusions: Dietary supplementation over the past 30 days was reported by half of adults with psoriasis amongst the United States general population. Few individuals with psoriasis took dietary supplements specifically to improve skin health. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.