Psoriazis Hastalarının Hastalıklarıyla İlgili Bilgi, İnanış ve Tutumları

Background and Design: This study evaluates the patients’ knowledge, opinions and attitudes about psoriasis.Materials and Methods: A total of 111 patients over the age of 18, clinically and histopathologically diagnosed with chronic plaque-type psoriasis were included in the study. Patients who have psychiatric illness and inadequate intelligence were excluded. A questionnaire including items on knowledge, opinions and attitudes on psoriasis were filled out by the patients and the results were analyzed statistically.Results: One hundred-eleven (45 female, 66 male) patients were included in our study. 6.3% of patients did not know the diagnosis of their disease. 68.5% of patients thought that psoriasis was a contagious disease while18% thought that psoriasis was a hereditary condition. 88.3% of patients declined that they were informed about the disease by the doctor. 62.2% of patients believed that they had adequate information about psoriasis. 51.4% of patients believed that doctors gave them enough information about psoriasis. 44.1% of patients knew that psoriasis was aggravated by stress while 38.7% did not know any of the aggravating factors of psoriasis. 70.3% of patients believed that psoriasis would spread if not treated. Patients mostly (98.2%) had idea about topical treatment options. 82% of patients were afraid of having psoriasis on their face. 5.4% of patients were uncomfortable with the idea of their partners’ having psoriasis. 72.1%, 88.3%, 72.1% of patients reported no negative effect of psoriasis on their relations with friends, family members, work or school life, respectivelyDiscussion: Our results showed that psoriasis patients do not have adequate knowledge about the disease. We think that dermatologists should pay more attention to inform and raise awareness of pati