The anamnesis (medical history) represents an important component in the diagnosis of psoriasis (psoriasis).
Family history
- Are there frequent skin diseases in your family?
Social history
- Is there any evidence of psychosocial stress or strain due to your family situation?
Current medical history/systemic history (somatic and psychological complaints).
- Are there any skin lesions present?
- Appearance and shape of skin lesions (nodular thickening of skin with scaling?).
- Distribution of skin lesions (extensor sides of extremities, skin folds, scalp)?
- Seasonality of the skin changes?
- Do you have itching in the affected areas?
- Do you have nail changes?
- Are there any additional joint problems?
To determine the severity of psoriatic disease, the PASI score (English Psoriasis Area and Severity Index) is available (see below).
Vegetative anamnesis incl. nutritional anamnesis.
- Are you overweight? Please tell us your body weight (in kg) and height (in cm).
- Do you have a balanced diet?
- Do you eat a lot of pork and pork products and tuna?
- Do you smoke? If so, how many cigarettes, cigars or pipes per day?
- Do you drink alcohol? If yes, what drink(s) and how many glasses per day?
- Do you use drugs? If yes, what drugs and how often per day or per week?
- When was your first menstrual period? When did menopause begin?
Self history incl. medication history.
- Pre-existing conditions (skin diseases)
- Operations
- Allergies
- Pregnancies / breastfeeding phase
- Environmental history (chemical, mechanical, thermal skin irritation).
Medication history
- ACE inhibitor
- Β-Blockers (beta-blockers) – drugs used in the therapy of hypertension (high blood pressure).
- Chloroquine – drug for the therapy of malaria.
- Interferon – drug that has an immunostimulatory, especially antiviral and antitumor effect.
- Lithium – drug for the treatment of mental illness
- Tetracycline (antibiotic)
- U. v. m.
PASI score – index to determine the severity of psoriatic disease
| Extension of psoriasis | Extension score |
| None | 0 |
| < 10 % | 1 |
| 10-29 % | 2 |
| 30-49 % | 3 |
| 50-69 % | 4 |
| 70-89 % | 5 |
| 90-100 % | 6 |
Procedure: To determine the severity using the PASI method, the extent (area) of psoriasis is determined. For this purpose, the body surface is divided into head, arms, trunk, and legs. For each of these areas, the internal extent of skin lesions (plaques) is given a value between 0 (i.e., no plaques present) and 6 (i.e., plaques cover 90% to 100% of the skin).
Interpretation:
- <10 points: mild disease
- ≥ 10 and < 72 points: moderate to severe disease.
- ≥ 72 points: very severe disease
