Exercise, physical activity, and physical fitness in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: an umbrella review.

What was studied

This umbrella review gathers findings from earlier reviews. It looked at exercise, activity and fitness in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The authors searched databases such as Embase, Scopus and SPORTDiscus until 1 March 2026. They rated review quality with AMSTAR 2 and GRADE. The abstract says intervention reviews mostly concern PsA. Evidence for skin psoriasis was mostly observational.

What they found

None split out the effect of exercise on how severe skin psoriasis was. Confidence was low or critically low for most. The authors did not pool results. The same trials came up again and again. Vigorous activity went with lower psoriasis prevalence, at a risk ratio of 0.76. Regular exercise went with lower prevalence, at 0.88. In PsA, possible gains in fitness, pain and function came mainly from single small trials. Certainty was very low.

What it means for patients

The authors say the evidence differs by disease. For skin psoriasis, findings are observational. They do not show an exercise effect on severity or new cases. For PsA, intervention findings are sparse and duplicated. Their certainty is very low.

Why it is not certain yet

Safety reporting was incomplete. It did not allow a conclusion for each disease. The authors call for large enough trials that are registered in advance. These should use outcomes for each disease and report harms in a set way.

Source

Exercise, physical activity, and physical fitness in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: an umbrella review.

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