The differentiating effect of COVID-19-associated stress on the morbidity of blood donors with symptoms of hidradenitis suppurativa, hyperhidrosis, or psoriasis

PURPOSE: The burden of different skin diseases may vary leading individuals to have different sensitivity to stress. Therefore, we compared the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and stress before and during the universal stress from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2-pandemic in individuals with and without hyperhidrosis, hidradenitis suppurativa, or psoriasis.

METHODS: The study cohort was the Danish Blood Donor Study. Overall, 12,798 participants completed a baseline questionnaire before the pandemic, in 2018-2019, and a follow-up questionnaire during the pandemic, in 2020. Regression determined the association between the skin diseases and outcomes. Outcomes were the physical and mental component summary (MCS, PCS, respectively), which assess the mental and physical HRQoL, and the perceived stress scale, which assesses stress in the past four weeks.

RESULTS: Overall, 1168 (9.1%) participants had hyperhidrosis, 363 (2.8%) had hidradenitis suppurativa, and 402 (3.1%) had psoriasis. At follow-up, the participants with hyperhidrosis had worse MCS (coefficient -0.59 [95% confidence interval (CI) -1.05, -0.13]) and higher odds of moderate-to-severe stress (odds ratio 1.37 [95% CI 1.13, 1.65]) and the participants with hidradenitis suppurativa worse PCS (coefficient -0.74 [95% CI -1.21, -0.27]) than the control groups. The associations were independent of baseline HRQoL, stress, the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale, and other covariables. Psoriasis was not associated with the outcomes.

CONCLUSION: Individuals with hyperhidrosis or hidradenitis suppurativa experienced worse mental or physical well-being and individuals with hyperhidrosis also had higher stress during the pandemic compared to healthy individuals. This suggests that individuals with these skin diseases are particularly susceptible to external stress.