Psychosocial factors in psoriasis

Abstract

Background. The successful treatment of patients with chronic plaque psoriasis depends not only on the method of therapy but also on psychosocial factors. Methods and Results. A pilot study was performed on 22 patients with chronic plaque psoriasis. The psychosocial stress, psychiatric features and their changes were assessed over a 3-week inpatient rehabilitation stay in a specialty clinic. The severity of the psoriasis, the subjective degree of suffering and the psychometric variables related to psychosomatic symptoms were assessed before and at the end of the treatment. After the hospitalization, the severity of disease and anger were both significantly decreased, along with an increased interest in social interactions. Conclusion. In psoriasis patients, one can distinguish between different psychosocial factors, some of which are more likely to change. Stable attributes such as personality style can impact on compliance as well as on coping behaviors, thereby influencing treatment success. Our study shows that even within a rather short inpatient treatment period of 3 weeks not only the disease severity but also negative psychosocial stressors can be improved.