Psychological comorbidities associated with skin diseases

Background: Psychiatric disorders are common among patients with a skin disease. Objective: To identify the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in dermatological patients. Patients & Methods: Four hundred and sixty eight randomly-selected patients of 12-65 years from the out-patient clinics, dermatology department of Al-Hussain Hospital, Al-Azhar University, Egypt, were included in the study. The study was done in two stages. In the 1st stage, General Health Questionnairre 12 (GHQ-12) was conducted. In the 2nd stage, Psychological Symptoms Questionnaire (PSQ) was administered to those who were found to be positive for psychiatric morbidity in stage 1. Results: According to GHQ-12 screening, 107 out of 468 patients (22.86%) were positive for psychiatric morbidity. The pattern of psychiatric ailments detected by PSQ was as follows: major depressive illness in 30.84% (33/107) patients, generalized anxiety disorder in 22.43% (24), mixed anxiety and depression state in 32.71% (35) and dysthymia in 14.02% (15) of the patients. Conclusion: In conclusion, psychiatric co-morbidity is very common among dermatological patients as compared to the general population. If a dermatologist is well alert, the recognition and management of these co-morbid conditions will be minimized, and better quality of life can be further assured.