Background. Psychosocial consequences of psoriasis have been studied extensively. Feelings of stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress are common consequences for patients with...Show moreBackground. Psychosocial consequences of psoriasis have been studied extensively. Feelings of stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress are common consequences for patients with psoriasis. However, research on the prospective influence of psychosocial factors on psoriasis symptom severity is scarce. Thus, in this study, it is researched if feelings of stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress are related to the exacerbation of psoriasis symptoms six and twelve months later. Method. This prospective study examined through four multiple regression analyses if the predictors stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress influenced clinician-assessed and self-administered psoriasis severity after six and twelve months. The type of dermatological treatment and baseline disease severity were included as control variables. Data was collected among 49 psoriasis outpatients using an extensive questionnaire containing multiple self-report questionnaires and through clinician-assessed psoriasis severity. This was conducted at three time points: baseline, at six months, and twelve months. Results. Solely for one predictor a significant effect was found, indicating that higher feelings of stigmatization during baseline measurement predicted lower self-administered psoriasis severity after 6 months (ß = -.38, t = -2.25, p = .03) No other significant effects were found for any predictor, regardless of the clinician-assessed or self-administered severity or the time point (all p ≥ .06). There were predominantly no to small effect sizes found (-.36 ≤ r ≤ .30). Conclusion and discussion. The results of this study cannot substantiate the effect of perceived stigmatization, worrying, and psychological distress on psoriasis severity later. However, a lack of power, the extended interval between measurements, and low mean baseline scores can partly explain the lack of results. Future research should enhance their research design by considering more control variables such as treatment adherence, alcohol consumption, visibility of the lesions, and coping strategies. Besides, a broader range of disease severity should be included. As psoriasis has a serious psychological impact, it is worthwhile to continue the research on the effect of psychosocial factors on psoriasis severity. Previous research suggests the existence of an effect, and establishing this could enhance and increase the use of tailored psychological interventions in the treatment of patients diagnosed with psoriasis. This subsequently can contribute to alleviating their disease burden.Show less
The objective of this study was to predict adherence to measurement protocol based on symptoms of anxiety, depression and worrying in post-kidney transplant patients. Nowadays the aftercare of...Show moreThe objective of this study was to predict adherence to measurement protocol based on symptoms of anxiety, depression and worrying in post-kidney transplant patients. Nowadays the aftercare of kidney transplant patients consist of frequent hospital visits for testing. In this study 49 patients were given the opportunity to monitor their symptoms at home instead trough a finger prick to analyse creatine levels in their blood. They took these measurements up to a year after the transplant. Adherence to this protocol was objectively measured by collecting data from The StatSensor® Xpress-i™, the device used to measure creatinine in the blood. Adherence to the protocol was interpreted both as a percentage of adherence (continuous) and adherent or non-adherent (dichotomous). Patients were considered adherent if they performed at least 75% of the measurements prescribed by the protocol. Since non-adherence could lead to serious health risks, it is important to understand its potential risk factors. The level of anxiety and depression was measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and worrying was measured by the Transplant Effects Questionnaire. It was hypothesised that both anxiety and depression would have a negative effect on adherence to the measurement protocol. For worrying a non-linear relation was expected, which means that there would be an optimal level of worrying which leads to better adherence. The relation between these factors and adherence was measured through regression analyses and logistic regression analyses. The analyses showed no significant relation between anxiety, depression, worrying and adherence. Therefore this study showed that symptoms of anxiety, depression and worrying are not risk factors for objective adherence to measurement protocol in post-kidney transplant patients.Show less
