Mental health status of patients with a rare disease in consultation-liaison psychiatry service: Analysis of 22 patients with erythroderma

Abstract Background The mental health of patients with rare diseases deserves attention, but conducting the research is difficult. This study uses medical records of consultation-liaison psychiatry and provides the possibility of examining the mental health of patients with rare diseases. Methods The medical records of patients diagnosed with erythroderma in the consultation-liaison psychiatry system of the Department of Psychological Medicine of Peking Union Medical College Hospital were analyzed. Results Twenty two patients with erythroderma received psychiatric consultations during 2008 to 2021, and 8 patients (36.4%) were Beijing natives. The course of the disease ranged from 22 days to 33 years. Seven patients (31.8%) were diagnosed with erythroderma psoriasis. The common reasons for psychiatric consultation were anxious or depressive symptoms (10/22, 45.5%), insomnia (8/22, 36.4%), and disease pressure (4/22, 18.2%). The most common diagnosis were “depression”, “depressive state” or “anxious depression”, followed by “anxious state” or “anxiety”, “insomnia” and “delirium”. Antidepressants, benzodiazepines or nonbenzodiazepine sleep aids, and antipsychotics were prescribed. Five patients (22.7%) received only psychological counseling. Conclusions Anxiety, depression and insomnia were common in patients with erythroderma. Patients with severe disease or elderly inpatients might present with delirium, which is a common reason for consultation-liaison psychiatry. Antidepressants, antipsychotics and sleeping aids arecommonly used in drug therapy. Resource-oriented psychological counseling was the most common intervention.