Abundance of Anxiety, Depression and Stress of vitiligo patients who referred to the dermatology clinic of Sina Hospital

Abstract

Vitiligo is a relatively common acquired disorder of pigmentation characterized by the development of well-defined white macules on the skin that affects about 1% of the world's population. Although the cause of vitiligo is still unclear, several theories have been suggested, the autoimmune theory is the most acceptable. Due to the fact that the disease does not cause functional impairment, it is put in the category of aesthetic problems. Regard to previous studies on the psychological aspects of vitiligo, this study attempted to determine prevalence of Depression, Anxiety and Stress in vitiligo patients in northwest of Iran. Materials and Methods: A descriptive epidemiologic study on vitiligo patients who diagnosed by a dermatologist. The demographic data in each patient was recorded by self-administrated questionnaire. Persian translation of DASS-21 was used for diagnosis and determination of severity of Depression, Anxiety and Stress. Analysis of the data were done by SPSS version 22. Results: In this study, 105 patients were evaluated. Prevalence of Depression in women was 1.7 times to men, Stress in women was 1.1 times to men and the prevalence of Anxiety in men was 1.2 times to women. Among the age groups, prevalence of Depression was 66.6% in range of 20-29 years, Anxiety was 92.3% in range of 20-29 years and Stress was 100% in range of 20-29 years. Depression among university graduated patients was the most prevalent (74.2%), Anxiety among university graduated patients was the most prevalent (68.4) and Stress among high school graduated patients was the most prevalent (74.2%).