engleski

Psoriasis: less prejudice among health care providers?

Psoriasis is one of the most common chronic inflammatory skin disorders. It is characterized by red, scaly, sharply demarcated indurated plaques. Due to its disfiguring nature, it strongly affects the way a person sees himself and the way he is seen by the others. Clinical experience indicates that prejudice and stigmatization are present not only in general population, but also among health care providers. Therefore, the aim of our study was to evaluate the psychological reactions and general knowledge about psoriasis. A questionnaire, which was specifically designed for this study, consisted of items regarding sociodemographic data of the participants, their knowledge, attitudes and psychological reactions toward the disease that was presented by a picture of a patient with typical psoriatic skin lesions. The study involved medical doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians, medical students and non-medical personnel working at the Clinical Hospital Center, Rijeka, Croatia, as well as members of general population. Preliminary results of our study showed that psoriasis was easy to recognize by most of the participants. In the great majority, the picture of patient caused discomfort, indifference and commiseration. Furthermore, the collected data revealed that prejudice against psoriasis patients exists not only in general population, but also in different categories of health care professionals.

Psoriasis; Health care providers; Prejudice

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