Mental Health Evaluation in Dermatologic Outpatients with Chronic Pruritus

Background: Various studies have shown high prevalence of psychiatric disorders among dermatology outpatients and inpatients. As pruritus is the most common complaint in dermatology, we investigated the status of mental health in outpatients with chronic itch as a chief compliant. Material and methods: We administered the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R)to 193 consecutive patients with chronic itch (itching more than 6 weeks), who referred to three different clinics in the city of Ahvaz. We also evaluated the relationship between occupation, itchy areas of the body, age, gender and abnormal mental health. Results: In this study, mental health was abnormal in 55.4% of the patients. Paranoia and psychosis had the highest scores in 52.38% of the female patients and anxiety and psychosis had the highest scores in 47.83% of the male patients. Conclusion: According to high rates of psychiatric co-morbidity in the patients with chronic itch, psychiatric and psychological interventions should be considered in these patients to improve their quality of life and mental health