Personality traits and common psychiatric conditions in patients with seborrheic dermatitis

ABSTRACT

Abstract Background Seborrheic dermatitis is a skin disease in which psychological factors play a central role in its onset, exacerbation and remission. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate personality traits and common psychiatric conditions in patients with SD. Methods Outpatients who were admitted to the Bozok School of Medicine Department of Dermatology complaining of SD and who volunteered for study were included. Symptom Checklist 90 – Revised (SCL-90-R) and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Revised Short Form (EPQ-RSF) were administered before treatment to 50 patients who fulfilled the criteria for inclusion in the study. Results compiled from the 50 subjects were compared to a control group that was comprised of 50 healthy volunteers. Results Of the 50 patients that were included in the study, 25 were female and 25 were male. The Global Symptom Index (GSI; Z = -6.96, P < 0.001), Somatization (Z = -6.59, P < 0.001), Depression (Z = -7.11, P < 0.001), and Anxiety (Z = -6.64, P < 0.001) subscales of the SCL-90-R were evaluated. Statistically significantly higher scores were obtained from patients with SD in comparison with the control group on all of these subscales. In addition, the EPQ-RSF Neuroticism subscale was statistically significantly higher (Z = -4.99, P < 0.001) in patients with SD. Discussion Our results showed that common psychiatric conditions are considerably frequent in SD patients. More importantly, neurotic personality characteristics were much more frequent in these patients. These findings suggest SD to be a psychosomatic disorder that requires a multi-disciplinary approach.