Can the Control of Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria Symptoms Depend on the Stress-Coping Styles?

Background: The symptoms of chronic spontaneous urticaria can be exacerbated or even induced by psychological stress. Assessing the severity of symptoms using the recommended Urticaria Control Test is an important diagnostic step before deciding on the type of pharmacological treatment to be used. Due to the possibility of urticaria symptoms affecting patient's emotional condition, the authors attempted to analyze if the way of coping with stress has an impact on urticaria symptom control as assessed with this questionnaire. Methods: The study included 61 (37 female; 60,6%;) patients with symptoms of chronic spontaneous urticaria without other coexisting diseases. All patients were treated with antihistamines. In the analyzed group of patients, the Urticaria Control Test and the Polish version of Endler and Parker's Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations questionnaire were conducted. Results: The average score on the Urticaria Control Test in the analyzed group was 8.5 (±3.9) points. In our group, the most common coping style was a mixed style based on emotions and avoidance-32 (53%) respondents. Next, 11 (18%) patients reported an emotion-based style. A task-oriented style of coping with stress was observed in 8 (13%) respondents. In the study group, we found no statistical significance in the correlation between the UCT results and the patient's coping style. Conclusions: Emotions play a significant role as a stress-coping style in chronic spontaneous urticaria patients. The lack of relation found between the Urticaria Control Test result and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations questionnaire confirms the objective usefulness of the Urticaria Control Test in assessing the control of spontaneous urticaria.