Psychiatric Comorbidity in Prurigo Nodularis and the Impact of Socioeconomic Status.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to investigate the relationship between psychiatric comorbidity, socioeconomic status (SES), and mental health utilization among patients with prurigo nodularis (PN).

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with PN from 2007 to 2019. SES was approximated using zip codes; per capita income data was compared to the Livable Income Threshold.

RESULTS

288 patients were included. Patients were predominantly female (57%) and significantly more likely to have a psychiatric disorder than men (=0.001). 44.1 percent of patients had at least one psychiatric comorbidity, with mood (74.8%) and anxiety (63.0%) disorders being most common. Patients with PN in lower SES groups had a higher incidence of psychiatric disorder (=0.566) and utilization of mental health services (=0.617). 40.9 percent of patients with a diagnosed psychiatric disorder had no record of seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist.

LIMITATIONS

Patient records were retrospectively reviewed for encounters with a psychiatrist or psychologist, but did not account for other forms of mental health services. Per capita income used to determine SES may not be an accurate representation of an individual's income, nor did it account for the number of people within a household.

CONCLUSION

Psychiatric comorbidity was common among patients with PN and many went without receiving mental health services. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to better understand the impact of SES on these factors.