Meng YB, Ma YH, Yang Y, Li DD, Zhang RX, Ren CM. Continuous treatment strategies improve psychological status and quality of life in patients with atopic dermatitis. World J Psychiatry 2025; 15(10): 106312 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i10.106312]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Cui-Min Ren, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 215 West Heping Road, Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China. rencuimin@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Yi-Bo Meng, Yao-Hui Ma, Yun Yang, Dan-Dan Li, Cui-Min Ren, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Ren-Xiang Zhang, Department of Clinical Medicine, Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China
Co-first authors: Yi-Bo Meng and Yao-Hui Ma.
Author contributions: Meng YB participated in study design, data interpretation, and manuscript drafting; Ma YH was responsible for data collection, patient follow-up, and statistical analysis; Meng YB and Ma YH contributed equally to this article as co-first authors of this manuscript; Yang Y and Li DD assisted in clinical assessments and contributed to data management; Zhang RX provided support in literature review and methodology refinement; Ren CM conceptualized and supervised the study, coordinated the project, and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and all authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by the Hebei Provincial Medical Science Research Project Plan Project, No. 20242386.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University (approval No. 2023-R29).
Informed consent statement: This retrospective study was conducted in accordance with institutional ethical standards. The requirement for informed consent was waived by the Ethics Committee due to the use of anonymized clinical data.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Cui-Min Ren, Department of Dermatology and Venereology, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, No. 215 West Heping Road, Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China. rencuimin@126.com
Received: March 21, 2025 Revised: April 21, 2025 Accepted: August 7, 2025 Published online: October 19, 2025 Processing time: 188 Days and 23.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that poses a substantial burden on patients' physical health, as well as on their psychological health and quality of life. This study specifically examines active disease phases (excluding spontaneous remission periods) to investigate the efficacy of continuous treatments on the psychological state and life quality of patients with atopic dermatitis.
AIM
To evaluate the effectiveness of continuous treatment strategies, including dermatological care, psychological counseling, education, and long-term follow-up, on the psychological state and quality of life in patients with atopic dermatitis.
METHODS
A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 120 atopic dermatitis patients treated at our hospital between June 2023 and May 2024. A total of 120 patients were randomly assigned into control and intervention groups (60 patients each). The control group underwent routine treatment, and the intervention group was treated using continuous treatment strategies, including personalized skin care plan, psychological counseling, patient education, and long-term follow-up. Quality of life and psychological status of patients were assessed using the dermatology life quality index and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
RESULTS
At 12 months post-intervention, the dermatology life quality index scores in the intervention group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.01), implying improved quality of life. The anxiety and depression symptoms were significantly lower in the intervention group when compared to the control group (P < 0.05) as per the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. In the intervention group, the rate of recurrence of skin symptoms was 15% compared to 35% in the control group, with a statistically significant difference between the two groups.
CONCLUSION
Continuous treatment for atopic dermatitis patients greatly improve their psychological state and quality of life, enhance disease-free survival, and offer new trains of thought for clinical treatment. Personalized integrated management over a prolonged time is important to improve quality of life in such patients.
Core Tip: This retrospective study demonstrates that continuous integrated treatment, including dermatological care, psychological counseling, patient education, and structured follow-up, significantly improves mental health and quality of life in patients with atopic dermatitis. Compared to routine care, the intervention group showed marked reductions in anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and sleep disturbances, along with improved treatment adherence and social functioning. These findings support a paradigm shift toward multidisciplinary, long-term management of atopic dermatitis that addresses both dermatological and psychological needs.
