Patients With Psoriasis Find Self-Help Program Helpful

Self-help built on compassion and mindfulness helps to reduce shame and improve quality of life for patients with psoriasis, according to a study published in the British Journal of Dermatology.

The authors noted that people with psoriasis can undergo psychological distress that might be responsive to the benefits of psychosocial self-help. They aimed to conduct a study to test the “feasibility and acceptability of two theoretically developed self-help interventions”.

Researchers conducted a randomized controlled feasibility trial of 130 patients with psoriasis who were randomized into 2 groups. These groups had participants receive either compassion-based self-help (n = 65) or mindfulness-based self-help (n = 65) within a 4-week period.

According to the study, over 70% of participants found both interventions to be acceptable and materials to be helpful. There were significant reductions in shame (d = .20) and improvements in quality of life (d = .40) with both interventions.

Reference
Muftin Z, Gilbert P, Thompson AR. A randomised controlled feasibility trial of online compassion-focused self-help for psoriasis. Br J Dermatol. Published online January 18, 2022. doi:10.1111/bjd.21020