Increased risk of chronic kidney disease in patients with rosacea: A nationwide population-based matched cohort study

BACKGROUND Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder. Inflammation and oxidative stress are involved in the etiopathogenesis of rosacea and chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aimed to investigate the association between rosacea and CKD. METHODS This population-based cohort study identified 277 patients with rosacea in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database during 2001-2005. These patients were matched for age, sex, and comorbidities with 2216 patients without rosacea. All subjects were individually followed-up for 8-12 years to identify those who subsequently developed CKD. RESULTS The incidence rates of CKD per 1000 person-years were 16.02 in patients with rosacea and 10.63 in the non-rosacea reference population. After adjusting for other covariates and considering the competing risk of mortality, patients with rosacea remained at increased risk of CKD (adjusted sub-distribution hazard ratio (aSD-HR) 2.00; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-3.82). The aSD-HRs (95% CI) for CKD were 1.82 (0.83-4.00) and 2.53 (1.11-5.75) for patients with mild and moderate-to-severe rosacea, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Rosacea is an independent risk factor for CKD. High rosacea severity and old age further increased CKD risk in patients with rosacea. Careful monitoring for CKD development should be included as part of integrated care for patients with rosacea.