Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Dermatology and Venerology

Introduction and Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic that shook the world sinceDecember 2019 impacted all sectors of healthcare services. Kasr Al-Ainy Psoriasis Unit (KAPU), is a university tertiary center serving 3000+ patients. Investigating the impact of the pandemic is a pivotal step to design action plan in any future global health crisis. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (from March 15th to June 30th 2020 in Egypt), on physical and emotional health of patients with psoriasis who attended KAPU during the prior 12 months. Materials and methods: A collaborative dermatology-psychiatry team undertook thiscohort study. Patients 18 years+ who visited KAPU between January 2019 and February 2020 and who completed a full assessment during this period were eligible for inclusion. At a scheduled follow-up visit within 4 months post-lockdown, physical and emotional burden on 141 patients was evaluated using checklists to detect unfavorable changes relevant to: psoriasis global symptoms, itching, comorbidities, laboratory findings, PASI, body surface area affected (BSA), arterial blood pressure (ABP) and body mass index (BMI). Questionnaires for mental and emotional health included psoriasis disability index (PDI), Beck anxiety inventory, Beck depression inventory, brief cope scale, perceived stress scale and short form 36 survey. A questionnaire was designed to investigate accessibility and affordability of health services during lockdown. Results: worsening of psoriasis: 17%, 31.9% and 32.6% of patients recalled little,moderate and severe worsening of psoriasis during lockdown period respectively. 17%, 27% and 40.4% of patients reported little, moderate and severe aggravation of itching respectively. 18.4% manifested new comorbidity symptoms. At follow-up visit, PASI, BSA and PDI showed significantly higher means in comparison to pre-lockdown period [7.42±6.69 vs 6.30±5.76 (p=0.037); (17.7±22.40 vs 12.42±14.59 (p=0.014); 13.63±9.71 vs 12.42±9.94 (p= 0.040) respectively

Issued also as CD