SKIN DISORDERS IN PATIENTS WITH PRIMARY PSYCHIATRIC CONDITIONS IN RURAL POPULATION OF GURUGRAM.

Background: although the relationship between skin diseases in patients with primary psychiatric conditions is important for patient management, studies on this issue are limited. The skin is an organ of communication and plays an important role in socialization. The relationship between the ?skin? and the ?mind? is complex and of clinical importance. Aim: to study the pattern of cutaneous disorders in patients with primary psychiatric conditions. Methods: two hundred patients with a primary psychiatric condition who had cutaneous disease were entered into the study group. The patients were classified appropriately based on the classification of psychocutaneous disorders. The control group included 200 patients presenting with a skin disorder and without any known psychiatric complaint. Results: the majority of the cases in the study group were in the 4th-5th decade. The most common primary psychiatric conditions found in the study were depression (31%) followed by anxiety (22.5%). Among the infective dermatoses, dermatophytic infections which was found to have maximum incidence of 25.5%. Among non infective dermatoses eczema was found in 10.5% of patients with lichen simplex chronicus being most common (6%). Psychocutaneous disorders were found in total of 24 (12%) patients with delusional parasitoses being the most common.