Chronic skin disorder severely affects the physical and psychological well-being of patients, said a study conducted by Indian doctors from AIIMS-like institutions at Kalyani, Patna, and Bhubaneswar..

The doctors noted that the impact of psychological burden ranges from low self-esteem and stress to anxiety and depression. Acne, rosacea, psoriasis, eczema, and hair loss are just a few of the skin disorders that have been associated with increased rates of depression, anxiety, and reduced quality of life, more so because these are visible to others to see. This urgently calls for tailored psychiatric consultation and appropriate counseling for such patients at the OPD itself while being treated for their ailment, said the doctors after assessing the mental health of around 101 patients suffering from the chronic skin disorder.

In the present study ‘Psychosocial Distress and Quality of Life Among Patients With a Chronic Skin Disorder at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern India: A Hospital-Based Case-Control Study’ published in Cureus platform, 45.54% and 41.58% of patients had clinically significant (moderate to severe) depression and anxiety, respectively. “Depression and anxiety scores were found to be significantly high in unmarried persons and more in unemployed people. This might be because in the Indian scenario, both categories consist more of a younger age group of people, and they are more likely to have depression and anxiety.

That's because chronic skin disease affects their QoL, future career options, social life, etc,” said the authors. The team included, Dr Pratyush R. Behera, Dr Arvind K Singh and Dr Chandra S. Sirka, all from AIIMS, Bhuvneshwar, Dr Sarika Palepu from AIIMS, Kalyani, and Dr Rajeev Ranjan and Dr Swetalina Pradhan, both from AIIMS, Patna.

Females had a lower prevalence of depression and anxiety as compared to males, but the results were not statistically significant. Also, depression and anxiety were higher in patients with skin lesions involving exposed body parts like the head, neck, hand, and foot. Out of 101 patients in this study, 67% were males, and 33% were females. The most common diseases in the study were tinea (22.7%), acne (18.8%), and vitiligo (14.85%). In the present study, 76.24% of the patients were taking treatment at the time of study, and 74% had visible skin lesions on the exposed body parts.