THE RELATION BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS AND SEVERITY OF THE CLINICAL PROFILE OF PSORIASIS IN AN EGYPTIAN SAMPLE

Abstract

Psychological stressors have been reported to precede the onset of psoriasis in 44% of patients, initiate recurrent skin flares in 88% of psoriatic and may worsen psoriasis severity and may even lengthen the time to disease clearance. This study aimed to: 1. Identifying the types of stressors, which are related to the forms and severity of clinical profile of psoriasis, 2. Identifying the types of psychosocial factors which are related to the forms and severity of clinical profile of psoriasis in Egyptian sample. Methods: One hundred and fifty patients randamised samples were collected from dermatological out-patient clinic affiliated to ministry of health and universities hospitals. All subjects were exposed to the followings: A full dermatological history including exacerbating factors. General examination to exclude chronic diseases. Clinical examination, Socioeconomic data will be collected for all patients. Holms and Rahe for assessment of stressors. Psoriasis area severity index. Results: The socio-demographic characteristics show that the mean age of patients with psoriasis of both sexes was 40.91 (standard deviation, SD 14.26) years, while the men:women ration was 2.66:1. Additionally, 68% of psoriatic patient were occupationally skilled person; 18% were un-employed; 10% were professional and 4% were students. A significant relation between weather condition and type of psoriasis severity was noticed. It appears that psoriatic patients were improved in summer and worsened in winter. During autumn and springs, patients didn't notice changes in psoriasis signs. A significant relation between presence of psychological stress and degree of psoriasis severity. It appears that moderate degree of psoriasis was the most common among psoriatic patient with stress (45.5%) or without stress (65.3%). Conclusion: The study showed that environmental stressors have relevant effects on severity of psoriasis. In addition, there is a specific relation between both climate and psychological stresses on the severity of psoriasis.