Psychiatric morbidity among patients with psoriasis and acne: A comparative study

Objective to compare occurrence of psychiatric morbidity among psoriasis and acne patients. methods it was a cross-sectional,comparative study between 50 psoriasis and 50 acne patients in tertiary care hospital. for assessing severity of skin lesions psoriasis area severity index (pasi) and global acne severity (gea) scales were applied on psoriasis and acne patients,respectively. then general health questionnaire-60 (ghq-60) was applied on both the patient groups and mini international neuropsychiatric interview (mini),hamilton rating scale for anxiety (ham-a),hamilton rating scale for depression (ham-d),beck depression inventory (bdi) were applied on only those patients,who scored ≥12 in ghq-60 (ghq-60+ve). results psoriasis patients had significantly higher psychiatric morbidity,in terms of both ghq-60 (p=0.00) and mini (p=0.01). 35 (70%) and 20 (40%) patients were ghq+ve (ghq-60score ≥12) and psychiatric morbidity diagnosed by mini were 22 (44%) and 10 (20%) among psoriasis and acne patients,respectively. the psychiatric diagnosis observed by mini were: major depressive episode (18%),dysthymia (10%),generalized anxiety disorder (12%),suicidality (12%),alcohol abuse (12%),psychotic disorders (2%) among psoriasis patients and major depressive episode (6%),generalized anxiety disorder (6%),suicidality (6%),obsessive-compulsive disorder (2%),social phobia (2%),alcohol abuse (6%) among acne patients. the severity of psoriasis and acne skin lesions positively correlated with anxiety,depression in both psoriasis and acne patients. conclusion the high psychiatric and psychosocial morbidity in psoriasis and acne patients indicates a need for regular liaison between dermatologists and psychiatrists.