Psychopathological Variables and Sleep Quality in Psoriatic Patients.

Maria Luca,Carmela Calandra,Maria Musumeci,Federica Fiorentini,Antonina Luca,Giuseppe Micali

doi:10.3390/ijms17071184

Abstract

Psoriasis is an inflammatory disease frequently associated with psychiatric disturbances and sleep disorders. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of depression, interaction anxiety, audience anxiety, and sleep quality in psoriatic patients. One hundred and two psoriatic patients were enrolled and underwent the following questionnaires: Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS), Audience Anxiousness Scale (AAS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The severity of skin lesions was assessed by Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI). The presence of a link between clinical variables and with demographic data has been investigated. Psoriasis was linked to depression, interaction and audience anxiety, as well as to poor sleep quality; 37.5% of patients were depressed, 46.1% scored above 37 at the IAS, 47.1% scored above 33 at the AAS. Thirty-nine subjects (38.2%) presented a PSQI ≥ 5. An association between interaction anxiety and lower limbs psoriasis-related erythema as well as between PSQI and head psoriasis-related erythema was found, particularly among male patients. Hence, psoriatic patients should be assessed from a holistic point of view, in order to identify associated disorders that could benefit from targeted treatments.

Highlights

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting 2%–4% of the general population in Western countries [1,2]
One hundred and two psoriatic subjects were consecutively enrolled in the study
The percentage of patients scoring ě5 has been reported, since this cut-off has been found to be useful in identifying poor sleepers in most studies [37]. ‚ Interaction Anxiousness Scale (IAS): a 15-item self-rating scale assessing the level of distress when meeting and talking with other people

Summary

Introduction

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting 2%–4% of the general population in Western countries [1,2]. It is clinically characterized by typical raised scaling and red papules and plaques mostly affecting the scalp, elbows, knees, and lumbosacral area (plaque psoriasis). Unstable psoriasis can lead to rare complications (erythrodermic and generalized pustular psoriasis) [2] The burden of this skin disease is considerably high in terms of social costs [3], patients’ quality of life, and high rate of comorbidity (hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis) [4,5,6]. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of psychiatric disturbances and sleep disorders in psoriatic patients, taking into account demographic and clinical variables (see below)

Objectives

Methods

Conclusion