Psychiatric Comorbidity Common in Patients With Prurigo Nodularis

Psychiatric comorbidity was common among patients with prurigo nodularis (PN), and many patients did not receive mental health services, according to findings published in The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology.

“The severe and chronic nature of PN has significant impacts on quality of life, with patients having the third worst self-reported health among other dermatological diseases,” researchers said, adding there is a lack of research into the impact of socioeconomic status on patients with PN.

The retrospective cohort study involved 288 patients diagnosed with PN at Loyola University Medical Center. Investigators collected data including demographics, psychiatric diagnoses, and zip codes, which they used in combination with income data from the US Census Bureau to estimate each patient’s socioeconomic status.

Nearly half (44.1%) of patients with PN had at least 1 psychiatric comorbidity. The most common conditions were mood (74.8%) and anxiety (63%) disorders. Women, who comprised 57% of participants, were significantly more likely than men to have comorbid psychiatric disorders (67.7% vs 32.3%, P=0.001).

Additionally, patients of lower socioeconomic status experienced a higher incidence of psychiatric disorders (P=0.566) and used mental health services at a higher rate (P=0.617), although researchers noted these results were not statistically significant.

Among patients who had a diagnosed psychiatric disorder, 40.9% had no documented visits with a psychiatrist or psychologist.

“In the current study, 17.3 percent of patients with PN carried a diagnosis other than mood or anxiety disorders, suggesting the overall prevalence of psychiatric disorders might be higher than previously thought,” investigators said. “Future studies with larger sample sizes are needed to further characterize the relationship between [socioeconomic status] and mental health utilization among patients with PN.”

Reference:
Han J, Palomino A, Estupinan B, Wozniak A, Swan J. Psychiatric comorbidity in prurigo nodularis and the impact of socioeconomic status. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2022;15(6):53-58. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9239124/