Citation

Phan K, Loya A, Ramachandran V, Smith SD. J. Dermatolog. Treat. 2019; ePub(ePub): 1-2.

Affiliation

The Dermatology and Skin Cancer Centre , Sydney , New South Wales , Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Informa Healthcare)

DOI

10.1080/09546634.2019.1613483

PMID

31063002

Abstract

The painful and chronic nature of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and associated stigma leads to detrimental impact on patients' quality of life. There is increasing evidence that HS is associated with various psychiatric comorbidities including depression, anxiety disorders and psychoses. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between HS and suicide risk. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine whether HS patients are at elevated risk of suicide compared to controls. 1128 studies were identified from the systematic literature search. After removal of duplicates, title and abstract screening, and application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, there were 4 articles comprised of 86,151 HS cases compared with 114,579,054 controls. From unadjusted meta-analysis, we found an association between HS and suicide (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.35-3.71, P = 0.002) (Figure 1). There was heterogeneity noted (I²=98%). Meta-analysis with adjusted effect sizes was also performed, and we found an association between HS and suicides compared to controls (OR 2.11, 95% CI 1.43-3.12, P = 0.0002, I²=91%). Our systematic review and meta-analysis findings demonstrate the profound effect HS can have on mental health. Clinicians should be aware of psychiatric comorbidities in this population. The psychosocial burden of HS may lend to its association with suicide.

Language: en

Keywords

anxiety; depression; hidradenitis suppurativa; psychiatric comorbidity; self-harm; suicide