Psychological status of patients with chronic urticaria

Although chronic urticaria is the most common cutaneous disorder seen in our outpatient allergy clinics, to our knowledge, no study of psychiatric morbidity in allergy departments has been carried out in our country. For the present study, we used the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to evaluate the personality traits and psychological status of patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU). Fifty-nine outpatients with CIU and 59 healthy control subjects were enrolled in the study. Patients were included if no specific cause for their urticaria could be identified by detailed history and appropriate investigations. Psychiatric evaluation for all patients and controls was conducted at the Department of Psychiatry by using MMPI. Analysis of the MMPI profile showed that the scores for hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychopathic deviance, paranoia, psychasthenia, schizophrenia, and social introversion were higher in patients with CIU compared to the control group (P < 0.05). The mean score of hysteria was significantly higher in women. There were no significant correlations between the scores of MMPI and duration of the disease. These data indicate that our patients with CIU seem to have more depressive, hysteric, touchy and suspicious personality traits with hypochondriac tendencies and in more conflict with their social environment. Attitudes such as perfectionism, need for approval, external control and need to be loved were also characteristics of the patient group. We believe that psychological status should be considered for effective management of patients with CIU.