A survey study of self‐reported comorbidities among adults with vitiligo in the United States

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundVitiligo is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system targets melanocytes, manifesting in patches of lost skin pigmentation.ObjectivesTo characterize the occurrence of autoimmune/autoinflammatory and/or nonautoimmune comorbid conditions in patients with vitiligo.MethodsAdults representative of the 2017 US Census population were recruited for an online, cross‐sectional survey. Based on responses to vitiligo screening questions, participants were categorized into one of three groups: diagnosed vitiligo, undiagnosed vitiligo and no vitiligo. Participants reported clinical‐diagnosed conditions from prespecified lists of 13 autoimmune/autoinflammatory conditions and 21 nonautoimmune conditions.ResultsA total of 40,888 adults participated in the online survey; 315 (0.8%) were categorized as diagnosed vitiligo, 249 (0.6%) as undiagnosed vitiligo and 40,325 (98.6%) as no vitiligo. The percentage of participants with at least one autoimmune/autoinflammatory comorbidity was 2.65 times greater in the diagnosed vitiligo group than in the no vitiligo group. Psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis had the greatest difference in the percentage of participants between the diagnosed vitiligo and no vitiligo groups. The percentage of participants with nonautoimmune comorbidities was higher in the diagnosed vitiligo group than in the no vitiligo group. Vision changes, arthritis, back pain, anxiety, depression and sudden hearing loss had the greatest difference in the percentage of participants between the diagnosed vitiligo group and the no vitiligo group.ConclusionsThis large survey found that both autoimmune/autoinflammatory and nonautoimmune conditions were more common among adults with vitiligo. The greater percentage of autoimmune/autoinflammatory conditions in participants with vitiligo suggests that screening for such comorbidities may be beneficial and may indicate important opportunities for early intervention.