Atopic dermatitis is one of the most common allergic dermatoses.
The severity of the problem is due not only to a high prevalence, but also to
an increase in the number of patients with severe forms, leading to a
limitation of daily activity (professional, physical), to the difficulties of
social adaptation, and a sharp decrease in the quality of life.
Along with social factors influencing the onset and development of atopic
dermatitis, such as impaired immunity, functional changes in the central
nervous system, at the present stage, the personal characteristics of the patient,
the level of psycho-emotional stress in conjunction with the clinical and
pathogenetic features of a particular dermatosis, including atopic dermatitis,
become important.
The aim of our work was to identify the relationship between personality traits
and the nature of the clinical manifestations of dermatosis. To achieve this
goal, 45 patients (32 girls, 13 boys) aged 14 to 18 years were examined. All
the subjects were examined for the level of anxiety according to the
personality scale of manifestations of anxiety (Taylor) and the Eysenck method
.
As a result of the survey, it was found that among patients with atopic
dermatitis, introverts predominate 82%, and 62% of patients have an increased
level of anxiety, and the level of anxiety is more pronounced in girls.
In patients with atopic dermatitis, introverts, in comparison with extroverts,
have a greater number of anatomical and topographic zones of the skin involved
in the pathological process (more than 8 zones), and severe itching prevails.
Moreover, girls – introverts, in comparison with boys, have a tendency to a
higher frequency of occurrence of severe itching and the involvement in the
process of a large number of anatomical and topographic zones of the skin (more
than 10).
When studying the level of anxiety, it was possible to establish that its
increase in comparison with the normal level was combined with an increase in
the number of topographic zones (more than 9), as well as with an increased
frequency of severe itching. In girls, this trend is traced by the itching
intensity parameter, and in boys, by the number of anatomical and topographic
zones involved in the pathological process.
Thus, as a result of the preliminary study, it can be assumed that some
clinical parameters of atopic dermatitis in adolescents are related to the
personal characteristics of the patient, and their severity probably depends on
the sex of the patients. In addition, the obtained preliminary data, with their
further deepening, can serve as additional criteria for predicting the
development of the disease and the formation of a complex of therapeutic and
preventive measures.