Psychiatric morbidity in dermatology patients: Frequency and results of consultations

BACKGROUND: Dermatological patients quite commonly depict psychiatric morbidity. PURPOSES: To study the psychiatric morbidity among skin patients of our clinic. METHODS: In the present study, the patients who were treated in the Dermatology Clinic of Inonu University Medical Faculty were evaluated retrospectively. The age, gender, marital status, habits, dermatological and systemic diseases, previously used drugs, current therapy and psychiatric diagnosis of each patient were recorded. FINDINGS: Of 636 patients involved in the study, 15.3% had psychopathological problems, which were depression (32.0%), adjustment difficulty (15.5%), anxiety (13.4%), psychosomatic disorders (10.3%), obsessive-compulsive disorder and conversion (5.1%), dysthymic disorder (4.1%), attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (2.1%), panic attack (1.0%), premenstrual syndrome, schizophrenia, somatization disorder, insomnia, alcohol dependency, bipolar affective disorder, mental retardation, agoraphobia, social phobia and dementia. The dermatological diseases defined for the patients with psychopathology diagnosis were chronic urticaria (25.8%); psoriasis (15.5%); alopecia areata, totalis and iniversalis (11.3%); acute urticaria, neurodermatitis and Behcet′s disease (5.1%); atopic dermatitis and drug eruptions (4.1%); pemphigus (3.1%); angioedema, contact dermatitis and generalized pruritus (2.1%); folliculitis and the others (1.0%). CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric morbidity has an affect on the course of dermatological diseases. When required, psychiatric consultation should be sought by dermatology clinics and patients should be followed with the cooperation of dermatologists and psychiatrists. LIMITATION: The indoor-based study had not included any control group and any domicillary patient