Abstract

Background Psoriasis is a serious, chronic non‐communicable disease. However, the fundamental measure of disease occurrence, incidence, has been scarcely reported globally. There are no previous studies of psoriasis incidence in Latin America. Objective This study aims to estimate incidence rates of psoriasis in Chile during 2016 and 2017 using an administrative database, the Waiting List Repository. Methods We examined referrals of psoriasis at onset, made by physicians to dermatologists, evaluated the agreement of diagnosis, and estimated the incidence of the disease considering the eligible population at risk. Results The referrals corresponded to incident cases of psoriasis 73.3% (95% CI: 66.6% – 79.2%) of the time. National incidence rates of psoriasis were 22.1 (95% CI:21.1–23.1) and 22.7 (95% CI:21.8–23.6) per 100,000 person‐years in 2016 and 2017. The most common type of psoriasis was the late‐onset type. We observed a high variation in the figures throughout the country, with a range from 0.75 (95% CI: 0.3–1.5) to 164.9 (95% CI: 138.6–195.1) per 100,000 person‐years at the Metropolitan and Aysen region, respectively. Conclusions We describe, for the first‐time, the incidence of psoriasis in a Latin American country. Our findings could potential guide collaborations to improve our global understanding of psoriasis in Latin America.