Stress: A Risk Factor For Psoriasis, Vitiligo And Alopecia Areata

Background: The possibility of a influence of stress especially of stressful life events on the course of various skin diseases has long been postulated. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of stressful life events on the onset and on the state of the psoriasis, vitiligo and alopecia areata. Design: The design of study was case-control study. Setting: Cases and controls were selected from Basrah General Hospital (BGH), Sadder Teaching Hospital (STH) and private clinic of dermatology (P.C) in Basra, Iraq. Methods: The total number of cases was 283 patients in which of psoriasis. vitiligo and alopecia areata constituted 98,87 and 98 patients respectively while total number of controls was 242 patients have dermatological diseases other than cases . All cases and controls were matched on the bases of their similarity with respect to age and sex. Results: The influence of stress factor have been postulated on the course of psoriasis, vitiligo and alopecia areata . High percentage of patients with vitiligo (54.0%) and alopecia areata (62.2%) mentioned stress as cause of their disease. Statistically this was significant for vitiligo (P= 0.01708) and highly significant for alopecia areata (P= 0.00012) but not on psoriasis ( p=0.656). It was also found that stress made the state of disease worse only to be highly significant in psoriasis (P= 0.00288) and significant in alopecia areata (P= 0.02141) , OR =1.739 and 95% CI of OR= 1.08-2.79) but not on vitiligo (p=0.10589). Conclusion: The study confirmed that significant association were detected between stress factor and each of psoriasis, vitiligo and alopecia areata