title: Gender differences in depression and anxiety among atopic dermatitis patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dermatological patients invariably suffer one or the other psychological problems which may escalate to the extent of a mental disorder. One of the most common dermatological disorders is atopic dermatitis (AD), but the literature has limited data on gender differences for psychiatric morbidity in such patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate and compare gender differences in the prevalence of depression and anxiety in AD.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study with consecutive sampling was done in an outpatient clinic of Dermatology at a Tertiary Care Center. AD subjects giving informed consent were evaluated on a brief semi-structured performa for collecting demographic and clinical information. Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) was used to assess the presence of psychiatric symptoms in these patients. Descriptive analysis was done for the socio-demographic profile and independent sample t-test, Chi-square and Cramer's V test was carried out to find in-between group differences for males and females.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 81 patients were included in the final analysis (males = 36, females = 45) with no significant difference in mean age between male and female subjects (36.14 ± 17.62 and 33.98 ± 14.49 years, respectively; P = 0.54). When including moderate to severe grade of depression or anxiety, the current study found prevalence rates of 15% and 12% respectively. Females had significantly more anxiety and depression scores than males (P = 0.04 and P = 0.03 respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a female preponderance of depression and anxiety disorder in AD patients.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Shrimati Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors: Shaily
authors: S
authors: Mina
authors: Department of Dermatology, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Shrimati Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors: Masarat
authors: M
authors: Jabeen
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Shrimati Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors: Shalini
authors: S
authors: Singh
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Shrimati Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors: Rohit
authors: R
authors: Verma
keywords: Anxiety; atopic; depression; dermatitis; dermatology