Socioeconomic Disparities Tied to HS Diagnoses
Key Takeaways
Lower neighborhood socioeconomic status was linked with increased odds of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) diagnosis.
The association persisted even after adjusting for demographics and known HS risk factors..
Patients living in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods are more likely to be diagnosed with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), according to a new cross-sectional analysis of data from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) health system.
Researchers on the study evaluated the association between neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (nSES) and new HS diagnoses among more than 65,000 dermatology patients in the San Francisco Bay Area between 2019 and 2024. Patients were stratified into nSES quintiles based on census tract-level data, which included factors such as income, housing costs, education, and employment.
Among the study population (mean age, 50.4 years; 41.8% female), 485 individuals were newly diagnosed with HS. Adjusting for age, sex, and race/ethnicity, patients in the lowest nSES quintile had more than three-fold higher odds of receiving an HS diagnosis compared to those in the highest nSES quintile (OR for Q1 vs Q5 = 3.32; 95% CI, 2.46 to 4.49; P < .001). The authors noted a strong dose-response relationship between neighborhood deprivation and HS risk across all lower quintiles.
Secondary analyses looked at mediators such as smoking, obesity, and insurance type. However, the main effect of nSES remained independently associated with new HS diagnoses.
“These findings support the hypothesis that social drivers of health at the neighborhood level, such as access to resources, education, and health care, may influence the development of HS,” the authors wrote.
Ultimately, the association persisted across racial and ethnic subgroups but did not reach statistical significance for all groups.
“This cross-sectional study found that nSES was independently associated with a new diagnosis of HS among dermatology patients,” the authors concluded. “This finding supports the hypothesis that neighborhood-level factors may influence the development of HS.”
Source: Chang A, et al. JAMA Dermatology. 2025. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2025.1190