Assessment of psychological trauma in patients with atopic dermatitis

Background. Atopic dermatitis is a chronic skin disease that has a great influence on the psychoemotional sphere of patients. Objective. To identify atopic dermatitis as a psychotraumatic factor in patients of different ages. Material and methods. The object of study — 26 patients aged 14—39 years suffering from atopic dermatitis. The disease severity according to the SCORAD scale ranged from 24.9 to 57.0 scores and averaged 34.6±0.8 scores. Comparison group consisted of 30 persons without clinical pathological signs of skin diseases. Relevant methods were used to assess traumatic stress and anxiety level: the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R, 1997) and the Traumatic Stress Questionnaire (TSQ) by I.O. Kotenev. The psychological significance of the disease was determined by the method of semantic differential (subjective assessment of the impact of dermatosis on different aspects of life by patients), and adherence to treatment — by a short test, namely the Brief Medication Questionnaire (BMQ) adapted for dermatological patients. Results. On the TSQ scale, 77% of the patients had digital indicators corresponding to post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, 85% of the subjects had sleep disturbances, performance impairment, fatigue and emotional disorders. Subjective evaluations of the impact of dermatosis showed the following: psychologically changes in appearance were the most significant for young patients (up to 25 years), and restriction of social activity and loss of labour capacity — for older patients (26—39 years). A relationship between reduced patients’ adherence to treatment (BMQ<20 scores) and significant indicators of avoidance criteria in psychological testing has been found in the study. Conclusion. Atopic dermatitis can be considered as a psycho-traumatic situation, but the subjective assessment of the impact on the biosocial aspects of life varies depending on the age of patient.