Prevalence of skin disorders and associated factors among patients with celiac disease: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundWhile celiac disease (CD) ordinarily presents with gastrointestinal manifestations, extraintestinal appearances may also happen. Although cutaneous manifestations are one of the most common extraintestinal manifestations of CD, little is known about their prevalence and associated factors. This study aims to determine the prevalence of cutaneous manifestations and related factors in CD patients. MethodsThis cross-sectional study enrolled CD patients referred to the National Celiac Registry, for whom a diagnosis of CD was confirmed through clinical examination, serological testing, and intestinal biopsy. Data on demographic characteristics, CD staging, clinical manifestations, underlying comorbidities, and family history (FH) of diseases were collected. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. ResultsOf the 4357 enrolled CD patients (male 65.7%), 18.20% had cutaneous manifestations, with eczema (3.73%), dermatitis herpetiformis (3.46%), and psoriasis (0.71%) being the most common disorders. The FH of skin disorders (Odds ratio (OR)=7.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.44-26.13, p=0.00), osteoarthritis (OR=6.15, 95% CI 1.15-32.78, p=0.03), Sjogren syndrome (OR=4.82, 95% CI 1.98-11.73, p=0.00), mouth aphthae (OR=3.10, 95% CI 1.80-5.32, p=0.00), thalassemia (OR=2.78, 95% CI 1.19-6.50, p=0.01), constipation (OR =1.62, 95% CI 1.10-2.38, p=0.01), and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) (OR=1.54, 95% CI 1.05-2.24, p=0.02) were independent predictors, and type I diabetes mellitus (OR=0.20, 95% CI 0.05-0.81, p=0.02) was a protective factor for skin diseases. ConclusionConsidering the higher probability of cutaneous manifestations in CD patients, regular clinical evaluation of these patients is recommended for timely diagnosis and management of underlying skin diseases.