psychiatric conditions, and the mental health component was very similar to psychiatric conditions. Our observations have two main implications: first, the severity of dermatological conditions such as HS or psoriasis cannot be underestimated simply because they are considered as nondirectly life-threatening, and thus, second, the classical measures of outcome (e.g. mortality) currently used in programmes intended to evaluate appropriateness and effectiveness of health care may not be the most appropriate for severe chronic dermatological conditions such as HS.