Skin disorders in chronic psychiatric illness

Abstract

Many chronic psychiatric patients have skin problems. Clinical examination of the skin is important to discover these problems. Patients with diabetes mellitus are particularly at risk for skin infections. Because of their relationship with overweight and diabetes mellitus, atypical antipsychotics may be partly responsible for these serious complications. Only a few other relationships between psychiatric medication and specific skin problems were found.

Substantial skin disorders in psychiatric illness coincide with diabetes and addiction

“…This could especially be the case in long‐stay patients, because of the lower frequency of consultations we registered for this group of patients. In our study of the prevalence of skin disease among long‐stay patients unreported skin problems were found in 37% of the patients 8 . Furthermore, patients could also have been helped by nurses, the hospital chiropodist or psychiatrists who were all not involved in this survey.…”

“…Because of the higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus among psychiatric patients this is an important finding, the more since diabetes can be induced by psychiatric medication 12 . In our recent study on the prevalence of skin disease in residential psychiatric patients, we found patients with diabetes mellitus to have a 10‐fold increased risk for skin infections 8 …”

“…The most obvious method to address this problem is to study the prevalence of skin disease. In a study among psychiatric long‐stay inpatients (mostly diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders), we established that skin disorders were highly prevalent 8 . Patients with diabetes mellitus particularly were found to be at risk for skin infections.…”

“…In a study among psychiatric long-stay inpatients (mostly diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders), we established that skin disorders were highly prevalent. 8 Patients with diabetes mellitus particularly were found to be at risk for skin infections. However, in this prevalence study a number of diseases with a limited duration, such as infectious disease and injury, could be underestimated.…”

Higher Frequency of Psychiatric Morbidity in Patients with Bacterial Infection of the Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue versus Cutaneous Neoplasms: Results from a Nationally Representative Sample from the United States

“…14,15 Diabetes mellitus and obesity can confound the association of bacterial skin infections and psychiatric morbidity as they are both associated with an increased frequency of infectious skin diseases and are also more frequently encountered in psychiatric patients, often as a result of side effects of psychiatric medications. 16 To our knowledge, no large-scale studies have examined the frequency and nature of psychiatric morbidity in patients with bacterial infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissue.…”