Extent of misconceptions, negative prejudices and discriminatory behaviour to psoriasis patients in France.

BACKGROUND: The perception of stigmatization of patients with psoriasis is largely due to misconceptions and negative prejudice about this skin disease. 'Uneducated' judgments can give rise to discriminatory behaviours. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the prevalence, in France, of misconceptions, negative prejudice and discriminatory behaviour towards psoriasis patients. METHODS: Online survey conducted in June 2011, aimed at 1005 persons aged 16-64 years, representative of the French population. The representativeness of the sample was ensured by quota methodology (gender, age, occupation of the interviewed person) after stratification by region and location category. The respondents were asked to respond to a questionnaire on their knowledge of psoriasis, their attitude and main feelings/perceptions towards psoriasis patients. RESULTS: About 62.4% of respondents recognize a lack of information about psoriasis and 19.7% have misconceptions about this disease. About 16.5% believe that psoriasis is contagious, 6.8% believe this skin disease is related to personal hygiene and 3.2% believe that it affects more people with low personal hygiene. About 50.0% of respondents show discriminatory behaviour towards psoriasis patients, reflected by reluctance to maintain friendship ties/a relationship of friendliness (7.6%), to have lunch or dinner with a person with visible manifestations (17.9%), to give a kiss on the cheek in greeting (29.7%), to shake hands (28.8%) and to have sexual relations/intercourse (44.1%). Patients with negative prejudice about the psoriasis frequently have misconceptions towards psoriasis patients. About 52.8% of respondents do not know anyone with psoriasis. Socio-demographic indicators such as gender, education level and rural or urban way of life are not associated with an increased prevalence of misconceptions and/or discriminatory behaviour. CONCLUSION: The lack of knowledge about psoriasis in France is important. There is an urgent need to strengthen information campaigns about psoriasis intended for the General Public.

Effectively detect dependence on benzodiazepines among community-dwelling seniors by asking only two questions.

Consumption of benzodiazepines (BZDs) is common among seniors. When used over a long period of time, BZDs can induce dependence. The present study aimed to equip nurses with valid screening questions for detecting BZD dependence among seniors, applicable to clinical practice and based on the DSM-IV-TR version. A random sample of 707 BZD users aged 65 years and over was screened for BZD dependence using the DSM-IV-TR criteria for substance dependence. To predict a diagnosis of BZDs dependence, sensitivity and specificity were computed for each pair of items. Results showed that an affirmative answer to 'Have you try to stop taking this medication?' and 'Over the past 12 months, have you noticed any decrease in the effect of this medication?' led to a sensitivity of 97.1% and a specificity of 94.9% to detect BZD dependence. Asking these two simple questions can be easily integrated into clinical practice and have considerable potential for identifying cases of BZD dependence.