The effect of anxiety, psychopathological symptoms and personality traits on response to treatment in male patients with anogenital warts: a prospective study

Abstract

Background In the era of precision medicine, identification of possible predictive factors of clinical response to treatment is fundamental. This need is particularly strong for anogenital warts (AGW), because there are several treatment modalities with different clearance and recurrence rates. However, data regarding the effect of mental health parameters on response to treatment in patients with AGW are lacking. Objectives The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the association between patients’ mental health parameters and AGW treatment outcomes. Methods This was a single‐centre, prospective study that included newly diagnosed male patients with AGW. At their initial visit, all patients completed the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Symptom Checklist‐90‐Revised (SCL‐90‐R) and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) questionnaires, which evaluate anxiety, psychopathological manifestations and personality traits, respectively. All patients received cryotherapy until clearance of lesions and were followed up for 18 months for detection of recurrences. Results The study included 167 male patients. The mean number of days for AGW clearance was 89 ± 65. During the 18‐month follow‐up, 28% of participants showed a recurrence, after a mean number of 150 ± 132 days. No statistically significant association was detected between questionnaires scores and (a) time needed for AGW clearance, (b) time until 1st recurrence and (c) number of recurrences. Conclusion If confirmed, our findings indicate that we may not need to modify our AGW treatment plan according to a patient’s mental health profile.

Intralesional injection of purified protein derivative versus Candida antigen in treatment of genital warts

“…Anogenital warts are the most frequent sexually transmitted infections worldwide and have a detrimental impact on the quality of life. 11 Treatment of genital warts is unsatisfactory in most of cases as they depend on destruction of the involved tissue, however, normal skin may harbor the virus which may cause high incidence of recurrence. 12 Immunotherapy has gained popularity as a successful therapeutic modality for different types of warts being associated with fewer side effects, good cosmetic outcome and lower recurrence rate; however, the efficacy of intralesional CA and PPD in treatment of anogenital warts is sparse.…”

“…Anogenital warts are the most frequent sexually transmitted infections worldwide and have a detrimental impact on the quality of life 11 . Treatment of genital warts is unsatisfactory in most of cases as they depend on destruction of the involved tissue, however, normal skin may harbor the virus which may cause high incidence of recurrence 12 .…”