Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
21st Congress of the European Society of Dermatology and Psychiatry & 1st World Congress of Psychodermatology, İstanbul, Türkiye, 28 - 31 Mayıs 2025, cilt.19, ss.163-164, (Tam Metin Bildiri)
Aim: The field of psychodermatology, an interdisciplinary branch combining psychiatry and dermatology, addresses the complex interplay between skin diseases and psychological or psychiatric conditions. A significant portion of dermatology patients have psychiatric or psychological issues that complicate their skin conditions. Undiagnosed and untreated psychocutaneous disorders lead to poor treatment adherence, increased morbidity, and a decline in quality of life. Furthermore, psychological factors associated with skin diseases are directly linked to greater resource utilization and impose a financial burden on both patients and healthcare providers. Surveys have shown that enhancing collaboration between dermatologists and psychiatrists reduces the frequency of patients returning for consultations and generally increases patient satisfaction. Hence, psychodermatology appears to be a critical subspecialty to incorporate into the treatment process for patients in the interdisciplinary field of psychiatry and dermatology. In Türkiye, the first psychodermatology unit represents a pioneering step in integrating mental health and dermatological care. This study aimed to present the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients examined in Türkiye’s first psychodermatology unit. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study includes data from 219 patients who applied to our psychodermatology clinic over a 2-year period. Clinical characteristics of the patients, including demographic data, dermatological and psychiatric diagnoses, were examined. Data were obtained from the hospital registry system and evaluated with statistical analyses. Results: 70.3% of the patients were female and 29.7% were male. The mean age was 49, and the age range of the patients was between 19-86. The most common dermatological diseases were pruritus (32.4%), neurodermatitis (20.8%) and psoriasis (9.3%). While 54.2% of the patients had no previous psychiatric diagnosis, 29.6% were diagnosed with depression and 14.4% with anxiety. Psychotropic treatment was recommended for 63.5% of the patients, and psychotherapy was recommended for 19.4%. The classification of psychodermatological diseases was based on the Lee and Koo and Koblenzer classifications. According to the Lee and Koo classification, 43% of the patients had psychophysiological diseases, 38% had dermatological symptoms due to psychiatric diseases, and 8.3% had dermatological diseases together with psychiatric symptoms. In the Koblenzer classification, 25.9% of the patients were included in the group of conditions in which psychological etiology was dominant, 42.5% in dermatoses strongly influenced by psychogenic factors, and 20.8% in the group of dermatoses that were genetic and environmental and affected by stress. Conclusion: The establishment of Türkiye’s first psychodermatology unit marks a significant advancement in addressing the biopsychosocial aspects of skin diseases. The initial results demonstrate the unit’s potential to improve patient outcomes through interdisciplinary collaboration. Future efforts should focus on expanding such models, reducing stigma, and integrating psychodermatology into standard medical training to ensure sustainability and broader accessibility.