Psoriasis &psychiatric morbidity: a profile from a tertiary hospital in south india

Background: Psoriasis has an impact on psychology of the patients. There is a dearth of studies regarding this field in south India. Aims and Objectives: The primary objective is to assess the psychosocial distress of patients with psoriasis and to examine the subjective influence of stress on psoriasis. Settings and Design: Institutional based case control study. Materials and Methods: A total of 50 consecutiveconsenting psoriasis patients fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteriaattending Dermatology OPD in a tertiary care hospitalwere included in our study. Demographics, type and duration of psoriasis was recorded by a dermatologist. Patient was then assessed by a psychiatrist and scored for anxiety and depression using Hamilton anxiety rating (HAM-A) &Hamilton depression rating (HAM-D). Stress was assessed by the stressful life events scale. Data was statisticallyanalysed. Results: Out of the sample of 50 taken for our study, the majority(>50%) of patients are in the 30- 50 years age group. Out of these 66% (n=33) were males and 37% (n=17) were females. Duration of psoriasis in most of the patients (18) of our study was between 1 to 30 months. Most common type of psoriasis in our group was psoriasis vulgaris in 76% (n=38). In our study HAM-A and HAM-D showed no anxiety and depression in 86% and 78% of patients respectively. Stressful life events scale showed that 84% of patients had stress preceding the onset of psoriasis. Conclusion: Majority of Psoriatic patients in the study experienced multiple stressful life events preceding the onset of Psoriasis. Less percent of patients had depression, anxiety or both. Multidisciplinary approach involving Dermatologists and Psychiatrists can help manage this disease better