ABSTRACT
Background@#Internalized stigma, adoption of negative attitudes and stereotypes of the society regarding persons’ illness, has not been studied previously in pediatric psoriasis patients. @*Objective@#We aimed to investigate the internalized stigma in pediatric psoriasis patients and to determine differences according to factors affecting internalized stigma compared to adult psoriasis patients. @*Methods@#This multicenter,cross-sectional, comparative study included 125 pediatric (55 female, 70 male; mean age±standard deviation [SD], 14.59±2.87 years) and 1,235 adult psoriasis patients (577 female, 658 male; mean age±SD, 43.3±13.7 years). Psoriasis Internalized Stigma Scale (PISS), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Perceived Health Status (PHS), and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 were the scales used in the study. @*Results@#The mean PISS was 58.48±14.9 in pediatric group. When PISS subscales of groups were compared, the pediatric group had significantly higher stigma resistance (p=0.01) whereas adult group had higher scores of alienation (p=0.01) and stereotype endorsement (p=0.04). There was a strong correlation between mean values of PISS and DLQI (r=0.423, p=0.001). High internalized stigma scores had no relation to either the severity or localization of disease in pediatric group. However, poor PHS (p=0.007) and low-income levels (p=0.03) in both groups, and body mass index (r=0.181, p=0.04) in the pediatric group were related to high PISS scores. @*Conclusion@#Internalized stigma in pediatric patients is as high as adults and is related to poor quality of life, general health, and psychological illnesses. Unlike adults, internalized stigma was mainly determined by psoriasis per se, rather than disease severity or involvement of visible body parts, genitalia or folds.
ABSTRACT
Background and Aim: studies of associations between various cancers and the ABO blood groups have shown elevated relative risks for some categories of disease. There has so far been no report of an evaluation of the relationship between the ABO blood groups and acne vulgaris. To investigate this association, we conducted a retrospective study of acne vulgaris diagnosed in Turkey
Material and Methods: all cases were clinically confirmed. Blood information was obtained on 498 individuals with acne vulgaris, and the distribution of ABO and Rh blood type for cases was compared with that of 419 healthy blood donors from the same geographic area
Results: patients with group A and B blood groups ratios were higher than the control group, but not statistically significant [P = 0.325 and P = 0.138]. The ratio of the patient group with AB blood group was significantly higher than in the control group [P < 0.01]. The ratio of blood group O of patient group was significantly lower than in the control group [P < 0.01]. There were no statistically significant differences between the patient and control groups in the distribution of Rh factor
Conclusion: our study showed a significant association of AB and O blood groups with acne vulgaris. Further studies in a larger series on blood group antigens are needed to shed some light on the relationship between these antigens and skin cancer