Korean J Dermatol.  2023 Mar;61(3):170-178.

A Nationwide Population-Based Study on the Association between Rosacea and Psychiatric Disorders: New Findings of Behavioral Disorders

• Chun EJ
• Jo YW
• Min Jh
• Kwon JW
• Lee KU
• Kim SS
• Her Y

Abstract

Background
Rosacea is a chronic skin inflammatory disorder that almost always occurs on the face, which can cause emotional stress and affect self-esteem. Rosacea is associated with psychiatric disorders, but there have been few studies on the relationship between rosacea and psychiatric disorders in Koreans.
Objective
We aimed to investigate the risk of psychiatric disorders in Korean patients with rosacea.
Methods
Data were obtained from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort. The database was collected according to the Korean Standard Classification of Diseases version 6, which is based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. This study was conducted with 595 patients diagnosed with rosacea from 2002 to 2013. A total of 2,380 controls were set by performing 1:4 matching for sex, age, and index year.
Results
The incidence of psychiatric disorders was higher in patients with rosacea (114/595, 19.16%) than in patients without rosacea (319/2,380, 13.40%), with a significant difference (p＜0.001). Among several types of psychiatric disorders, the prevalence of anxiety disorder and behavioral disorder was significantly higher in the rosacea patients than in patients without rosacea (p=0.008 and p=0.044, respectively). The adjusted hazard ratio for psychiatric disorders in patients with rosacea was 1.543 (95% confidence interval=1.238∼1.922, p＜0.001).
Conclusion
Rosacea is associated with many types of psychiatric disorders. Awareness of the psychological impact of rosacea might be helpful in improving patient quality of life.

Keyword

Anxiety disorders; Mental disorders; Mood disorders; Rosacea