Perception of the threat, mental health burden, and healthcare-seeking behavior change among psoriasis patients during the COVID-19 pandemic
Journal
PLoS ONE
Journal Volume
16
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the perceived threat, mental health outcomes, behavior changes, and associated predictors among psoriasis patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 has been known to increase the health risks of patients with psoriasis owing to patients' immune dysregulation, comorbidities, and immunosuppressive drug use. A total of 423 psoriasis patients not infected with COVID-19 was recruited from the Department of Dermatology, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and China Medical University Hospital from May 2020 to July 2020. A self-administered questionnaire was used to evaluate the perceived threat, mental health, and psychological impact on psoriasis patients using the Perceived COVID-19-Related Risk Scale score for Psoriasis (PCRSP), depression, anxiety, insomnia, and stress-associated symptoms (DAISS) scales, and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), respectively. Over 94% of 423 patients with psoriasis perceived threat to be ? 1 due to COVID-19; 18% of the patients experienced psychological symptoms more frequently ? 1, and 22% perceived psychological impact during the pandemic to be ? 1. Multivariable linear regression showed that the higher psoriasis severity and comorbidities were significantly associated with higher PCRSP, DAISS, and IES-R scores. The requirement for a prolonged prescription and canceling or deferring clinic visits for psoriasis treatment among patients are the two most common healthcare-seeking behavior changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psoriasis patients who perceived a higher COVID-19 threat were more likely to require a prolonged prescription and have their clinic visits canceled or deferred. Surveillance of the psychological consequences in psoriasis patients due to COVID-19 must be implemented to avoid psychological consequences and inappropriate treatment delays or withdrawal. ? 2021 Chiu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
SDGs
Other Subjects
adult; aged; epidemiology; female; health behavior; human; isolation and purification; male; mental health; middle aged; pandemic; psoriasis; psychology; questionnaire; self report; Taiwan; virology; Adult; Aged; COVID-19; Female; Health Behavior; Humans; Male; Mental Health; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Psoriasis; SARS-CoV-2; Self Report; Surveys and Questionnaires; Taiwan
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Type
journal article