Chronic spontaneous urticaria is an illness, recognized by the characteristic development of urticaria or hives. Symptoms occur for more than six weeks for no apparent reason. The disease is rare, as the lifetime risk is only 0.5 to 3 percent. Since the disease affects the skin, which is the largest visible organ of our body, the burden of the disease on patients is considerable and can consequently lead to many psychosocial issues. The cause of the disease remains unknown, and treatment often falls short of patient expectations. For this reason, it is important to investigate the disease also from a psychological point of view. With the research, we wanted to examine whether and which psychological factors influence the difficulty of chronic spontaneous urticaria in the Slovenian population. 82 patients participated in the research, who were treated for chronic spontaneous urticaria at the Golnik Clinic during this period. Data were collected using the questionnaire for urticaria control (UCT) and disease activity (UAS), the DASS-21 depression, anxiety and stress scale, the psychological health questionnaire - short form MHC-SF, the SOS significant other scale and the body awareness questionnaire BCQ. We found that the patients in our sample have a good psychological state. According to the study results, the severity of chronic spontaneous urticaria was not associated with any of the psychological variables measured. Participants report a low level of depression, anxiety and stress, good or flourishing well-being and high social support. The findings can contribute to the current treatment, which could include information and awareness about the disease, adequate recognition of the severity of symptoms and encouragement for physical exercise and social activities.
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