Stimulant use elevated in patients with psychocutaneous disorder

Use of stimulants remains high among patients with psychocutaneous disease, most of whom have one or more psychiatric comorbidity, results of a recent study have shown.

“Psychocutaneous disorders are often attributed to stimulant medications, yet this relationship has never been fully elucidated,” the authors said. “Literature on psychocutaneous disorders largely focuses on clinical presentation and treatment rather than disease aetiology or exacerbation.”

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to determine whether patients presenting to a single centre with psychocutaneous disorders show high rates of stimulant use and psychiatric comorbidity.

The authors hypothesized that these patients would have high rates of stimulant use and psychiatric comorbidities. After analysing the demographics at baseline, they assigned participants to either one of the two groups: those with a psychotic disorder and those with a neurotic disorder.

Three hundred seventeen patients with psychocutaneous disease (60 percent) had recently used a stimulant; of these, 270 (80 percent) had an additional psychiatric diagnosis.

In addition, patients in the neurotic disorder group (n=237) were younger and had higher rates of stimulant use, whereas those in the psychotic disorder group (n=80) had higher rates of psychosis, medical comorbidity, and illicit stimulant drug use.

Of note, the study was limited by its predominantly Caucasian population and its retrospective design, which could both limit the generalizability of its findings, according to the authors.