Perceived stress, life events, fatigue and temperament in patients with psoriasis

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the perceived stress, life events, fatigue and temperament profile in patients with psoriasis and to investigate the relationship between these factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included patients with psoriasis and healthy control subjects. The two groups were compared regarding the number of life events, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue scores. The Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego Autoquestionnaire was used to evaluate the personality traits among the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 75 patients with psoriasis (mean ± SD age, 44.94 ± 13.62 years) and 75 healthy controls (mean ± SD age, 41.10 ± 8.89 years) were included in the study. A statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of the presence of life events, PSS score, fatigue and temperament profiles. Patients with psoriasis with depressive, cyclothymic and anxious temperament profiles were found to have higher PSS scores. In the psoriasis group, the PSS scores were positively correlated with the number of life events. CONCLUSIONS: Stress and life events were found to be correlated with psoriasis. In the patients with psoriasis, depressive, cyclothymic and anxious temperament profiles seemed to be associated with higher perceived stress.