Psoriasis – the impact on an individual´s mental state and quality of life

Abstract

Introduction: Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease characterized by scaly patches affecting approximately 2-5% of the population. The disease has a negative impact on quality of life and, therefore, psoriatic patients often develop depression. Our work deals with quality of life and depression in psoriasis sufferrers and strives to determine the correlation between their quality of life and depression. Methods: The research took place in the University Hospital Olomouc in 2017 and used questionnaires WHOQOL-BREF and BDI-II. 50 patients with psoriasis were chosen randomly. To process the data we used Mann-Whitney test (the level of significance = 5%) and Spearman´s correlation coefficient (the level of significance = 1%). Results: The results proved that psoriasis has a significant impact on quality of life. The scores for the overall life quality as well as for individual domains were significantly lower in psoriatic patients than in the control group (p<0.001). The degree of depression in patients with psoriasis showed statistically significant correlation in all domains of the quality of life. We proved negative correlation in the overall quality of life (rs =- 0.691**), physical condition (rs =-0.499**), social relations (rs =-0.546**), overall health (rs =-0.396**), and environment (rs =-0.386**). Conclusion: With regard to the ascertained negative correlation between psoriasis and depression and lower quality of life of the sufferers compared to the healthy population, it is essential for healthcare professionals to pay attention not only to somatic manifestations of the disease but also to the patients´ mental health.