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A Cohort Study of the Relationship Between Anger and Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria

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Abstract

Introduction

Anger plays a major role in psychodermatological diseases. Researchers have reported that anger and other psychological factors play a role in the etiology of chronic urticaria. This study aimed to examine symptoms of anger, anger-related behavioral patterns, thoughts associated with anger, situations that cause anger and experiences of interpersonal anger in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). The authors hypothesized that patients with CSU react to more situations with anger and experience more anger symptoms as compared to alopecia areata (AA) patients and healthy controls.

Methods

The cohort study population consisted of literate adult patients aged <65 years that were diagnosed with CSU at the outpatient dermatology clinics of Başkent and Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, between September 2011 and October 2012. The first control group included individuals without any physical or mental disorders and the second one included literate adult patients diagnosed with AA. The patients and controls were matched according to age, gender, and level of education. A sociodemographic data form, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Multi-Dimensional Anger Inventory were administered to the participants. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.17.0 for Windows. The primary outcome was to determine whether there was a relationship between anger and CSU.

Results

The CSU group consisted of 30 participants; AA group consisted of 30 participants; and the healthy group consisted of 39 participants. Anxiety and depression scores in the CSU group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group. Symptoms of anger, situations that cause anger, and thoughts associated with anger were significantly more common in the CSU group compared to AA group and healthy group.

Conclusion

More of the CSU patients were observed to respond with excessive anger to most situations, to have high levels of anxiety anger and passive aggressive interpersonal relationships.

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Acknowledgments

All named authors meet the ICMJE criteria for authorship for this manuscript, take responsibility for the integrity of the work as a whole, and have given final approval for the version to be published. The authors thank Behçet Coşar (data collection), Yusuf Sevim (translation) and Ersin Öğüş (data analysis) for their support. No funding or sponsorship was received for this study or publication of this article.

Conflict of interest

Ali Ercan Altinöz, Nilgün Taşkintuna, Şengül Tosun Altinöz and Selvi Ceran have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Compliance with ethics guidelines

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 and 2008. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ankara Penal Institution Campus State Hospital, Psychiatry, Ankara Ceza Infaz Kurumları Kampüs Devlet Hastanesi Adalet Mh. Adalet Cd. Yenikent Sincan Ankara Sincan, Ankara, PK:06900, Turkey

    Ali Ercan Altınöz

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Başkent University, Ankara, Turkey

    Nilgün Taşkıntuna

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey

    Şengül Tosun Altınöz

  4. Afyon Bolvadin State Hospital, Psychiatry, Afyon, Turkey

    Selvi Ceran

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  1. Ali Ercan Altınöz
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  2. Nilgün Taşkıntuna
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  3. Şengül Tosun Altınöz
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  4. Selvi Ceran
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ali Ercan Altınöz.

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Altınöz, A.E., Taşkıntuna, N., Altınöz, Ş.T. et al. A Cohort Study of the Relationship Between Anger and Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria. Adv Ther 31, 1000–1007 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-014-0152-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-014-0152-6

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