Psychiatric Morbidity and Quality of Life in Patients suffering from Psoriasis in a Tertiary Care Hospital

ABSTRACT Introduction Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease, which may be persistent, disfiguring, and stigmatizing. The disease is frequent, with prevalence estimates ranging from 0.3 to 2.5%. It is characterized by thick, red, scaly lesion that may appear on any part of the body. Psoriasis is associated with significant psychological and psychiatric morbidity, experience of stigmatization, and decreased health-related quality of life (QOL). Aims and Objectives The aims of this study were to estimate psychiatric morbidity and QOL in patients with psoriasis and to study the specified demographic, psychological, social, and illness-related correlates of psychiatric morbidity and QOL. Materials and methods The study group consisted of 100 consecutive patients suffering from psoriasis and healthy controls. The assessment was done using General Health Questionnaire 12 items (GHQ-12), Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF scale (WHOQOL-BREF). Patients were also subjected to clinical psychiatric examination. Only those subjects who scored ≥3 on GHQ-12 scale were administered HADS and WHOQOL-BREF. Results This study revealed statistically significant association between number of relapses and depression score and between severity of skin lesions (PASI score) and depressive score. Conclusion Psoriasis markedly worsens the global well-being of patients and their cohabitants, who experienced an impairment of their QOL and higher levels of anxiety and depression. How to cite this article Yaduvanshi R, Jaiswal A, Sharma CS, Kumar S, Ali R, Shrivastava RK, Rathoure PK. Psychiatric Morbidity and Quality of Life in Patients suffering from Psoriasis in a Tertiary Care Hospital. Int J Adv Integ Med Sci 2017;2(2):85-90.