[Subjective evaluation of symptoms and effects of treatment and the intensity of the stress and anxiety levels among patients with selected diseases of the skin and gastrointestinal tract].

AIM: Aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between subjective evaluation of disease (the intensity of symptoms, complaints and nuisance effects of treatment) in selected skin diseases and digestive system and investigated psychological factors: the level of stress and severity of state anxiety and trait anxiety.

METHOD: Verification of the research hypothesis was made using the following test methods: medical survey prepared by the authors and standardized psychological tests, such as Medical Questionnaire, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) by S. Cohen, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) by C.D. Spielberger. The study was conducted among 120 patients, including patients with psoriasis, rosacea, gastroesophageal reflux disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

RESULTS

Patients received average results in the level of stress and anxiety. The highest degree of severity of the disease and its nuisance reported patients with gastrointestinal disease. All invited to the study patients evaluated effects of treatment of their disease as relatively low. In patients with psoriasissignificant relationships conserned the largest number of tested variables, as compared to other groups.

CONCLUSIONS

In all groups of patients partial correlation between the examined determinants of psychological and subjective assessment of symptoms and effects of its treatment was shown. The higher rating of the variables was most associated with a higher intensity of stress and anxiety.