Depression rife in hidradenitis suppurativa

The prevalence of depression is relatively high among children, adolescents, and adults with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), a chronic inflammatory skin disorder, according to a study, which also notes the importance of periodic screening for depression.

A team of investigators compared the prevalence of depression in HS patients with that of controls in this cross-sectional analysis. A total of 38,140 adults and 1,162 paediatric HS patients and controls were identified through data from electronic health records.

Depression was more prevalent among adults with HS (30.0 percent, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 29.6‒30.5) than controls (16.9 percent, 95 percent CI, 16.7‒17.1), as well as among children and adolescents with HS (11.7 percent, 95 percent CI, 10.0‒13.7) than their control counterparts (4.1 percent, 95 percent CI, 3.6‒4.7).

Adjusted analyses revealed that adults and children/adolescents had 1.26-fold (95 percent CI, 1.25‒1.28; p<0.001) and 1.42-fold (95 percent CI, 0.999‒2.01; p=0.051) greater odds of having depression, respectively, compared with controls.

“We could not evaluate the influence of disease severity on the outcome,” the investigators said.

These findings concurred with a recent systematic review and meta-analysis showing a high burden of depression and anxiety among HS patients. The authors suggested that clinicians must be wary of the presence of depression or anxiety and refer patients when appropriate. [J Am Acad Dermatol 2020;83:542-553]