Relationship between anxiety, depression and stressful life events with chronic idiopathic urticarial

Introduction:  Chronic idiopathic urticaria is a kind of urticaria, although it doesn’t have known external cause, but many studies have shown the role of psychological factors in development of allergic diseases. The aim of this study is to compare the anxiety, depression and mental pressures caused by stressful life events in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria and healthy people. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was performed on 22 patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria compared with 22 healthy subjects. Both groups responded to the checklist for demographic characteristics, Spielberger State/Trait Personality Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory, Pakel Life Events Inventory and the severity of the urticaria rash. The data analyzed through SPSS 10 software.   Results: Results showed no significant difference in terms of age, gender, marital status and education level between the two groups. State/trait anxiety (P=0.006 and P=0.003) and depression scores (P=0.044) were significantly higher in the case group than control group. In the case of stressful life events, the mean scores of patients and cases were not different significantly (P=0.418). On the other hand, the results of the study showed that with increasing the level of state/trait anxiety and depression in patients, the severity of urticaria rash has been significantly increased as well.  Conclusion: Regarding the higher level of anxiety and depression in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria, mental interventions are necessary for the treatment of these patients.