Psychiatric Morbidities and Their Impact on Quality of Life in Patients With Psoriasis

Background Psychiatric morbidities, which are commonly seen in psoriasis patients, are often missed or ignored leading to poor quality of life. A lack of communication between psychiatrists and dermatologists leads to ignorance of psychiatric morbidities in psoriasis patients, which can eventually take a severe form. Therefore, both groups must collaborate to provide high-quality patient care. As there is a dearth of such studies in the North-Eastern part of India, this study aimed to highlight the above-mentioned problem. Aim The aim of this study was to study psychiatric morbidities in patients with psoriasis and to compare quality of life in psoriasis patients with and without psychiatric morbidities. Methods This study was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted in the Dermatology Department, Assam Medical College and Hospital, Dibrugarh, Assam, India from July 2020 to July 2021. Ninety patients with psoriasis were included in the study and the diagnosis was confirmed by a consultant dermatologist, then the Mini International Neuro-psychiatric Interview Scale (M.I.N.I.; version 5.0) scale was applied to screen psychiatric morbidities. The diagnoses were confirmed using ICD-10 followed by dividing psoriasis patients into two groups, i.e. with and without psychiatric morbidities. After that the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) scale was applied to both groups and the domains of quality of life were compared. Results Our results showed that 61.1% of psoriatic patients had psychiatric morbidities, which is abnormally high compared to other dermatological disorders. The psychological domain of quality of life was the most affected (WHOQOL scale scoring of 38.12±6.67 vs. 48.76±6.21) in both groups of patients (i.e., with and without psychiatric morbidities), and the environmental domain was the least affected (56.67±10.65 vs. 64.67±8.18). Every domain of quality of life had a lower score in patients with psoriasis with psychiatric morbidities as compared to those without (p<0.05). Conclusion Our results of 61.1% psychiatric morbidities in psoriasis patients emphasize the need for psychiatric evaluation in every psoriasis patient. The timely intervention of psychiatric morbidity in psoriasis patients with collaboration of psychiatrists and dermatologists will surely improve the patient’s condition to some extent and, thus, their quality of life.