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Perception and determinants of stigmatization of people with psoriasis in the German population
Author(s) -
Sommer R.,
Topp J.,
Mrowietz U.,
Zander N.,
Augustin M.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1111/jdv.16436
Subject(s) - psoriasis , medicine , population , logistic regression , perception , prejudice (legal term) , disadvantaged , family medicine , gerontology , clinical psychology , psychology , dermatology , social psychology , environmental health , neuroscience , political science , law
Background Perception of psoriasis in the general population is characterized by knowledge deficits and prejudice against those affected. The extent and possible predictors of stigmatizing attitudes remain unclear. Objectives The aim was to assess prejudices and stigmatization of people with psoriasis and to identify sociodemographic and attitude‐related variables accounting for stigmatization. Methods Representative telephone surveys of 2004 (in 2017) and 2001 (in 2018) adults using a standardized questionnaire. Descriptive analyses were applied to living area, age, gender, educational status, general knowledge and attitudes about psoriasis. Logistic regression analyses were carried out to determine which variables are associated with the assessment of prejudices of ‘others’ against people with psoriasis. Those prejudices were specified by the following statements: ‘they should take better care of themselves’, ‘don’t want to touch people with psoriasis’ and ‘disgusted by psoriasis’. Results The majority of those surveyed (74%) believe that people with psoriasis are disadvantaged. Similarly, a majority (69%) said that most people find psoriasis disgusting, do not want to touch people with psoriasis (59%) and think that people with psoriasis need to take better care of themselves (45%). ‘Willing to enter a relationship with an affected person’ (OR = 0.330, P = 0.029), higher age (OR = 1.027, P <0.001) and male gender (OR = 1.263, P = 0.034) proved to be significantly associated with ‘psoriasis is disgusting’. Education (OR = 1.648, P = 0.016) and lower age (OR = 0.847, P <0.001) are significantly associated with ‘they need to take better care of themselves’. Conclusions Data suggest that stigmatization of skin diseases is still entrenched. This overview shows the need for interventions against stigmatization of those affected. Results imply that gender, age and education level and related health literacy of the target groups of respective interventions should be taken into account.