Seborrheic dermatitis and hypertension in adults: a cross-sectional study

Background: Seborrheic dermatitis (SD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that shares some features with psoriasis. Previous reports have demonstrated an association between hypertension and psoriasis. Chronic skin inflammation may plays a role in the aetiology of hypertension in both disorders. Objective: To evaluate the association between SD and hypertension in an adult large population sample. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out by utilizing the database of Clalit Health Services, a healthcare provider organization for over 4 million enrollees in Israel. All adult patients previously diagnosed with SD were compared with a sample of enrollees without SD regarding the prevalence of hypertension. Patients without SD were frequency matched to SD patients regarding age and sex. Data on other health-related lifestyles and comorbidities were collected. Results: The study included all 9255 patients with SD and 9246 age- and sex-matched patients without SD. The prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in patients with SD (27.1% vs. 24.7%, P < 0.001, OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.05–1.21). A multivariate logistic regression model demonstrated that SD was significantly associated with hypertension after controlling for confounders, including age, sex, socioeconomic status, smoking, diabetes and obesity (multivariate OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.12–1.35, P < 0.001). Conclusions: In this study, an association between SD and hypertension was demonstrated in adults. Many factors can be advocated to explain this association. Genetic predisposition, psychological conditions, lipid abnormalities and chronic inflammation of the skin with a change in cytokine balance should be explored as potential mechanisms.