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Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the frequencies of psychiatric comorbidities in children and adolescents with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU) and compare these findings with the normal population.
Methods: Fifty-six patients (31 boys, 25 girls) participated in the study. All of them were being followed up at the outpatient clinic for at least 6 months and diagnosed as having CIU after excluding any possible causes of urticaria. Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Age Children–Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) were administered to assess psychiatric comorbidities.
Results: The mean age was 10.37±2.75 years. The frequency of any psychiatric disorder was 69.6%, and 17.9 % of the patients had more than one psychiatric disorder. Psychiatric comorbidity was higher in girls than boys (76% vs. 35.4%). The psychiatric comorbidities were as follows: social phobia (30.4%), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (19.6%), separation anxiety, (10.7 %), anxiety disorder not otherwise specified (10.7%), major depressive disorder (7.1%), generalized anxiety disorder (5.4%), obsessive compulsive disorder (1.8%), and oppositional defiant disorder (1.8%).
Conclusion: Recent studies show that both adults and children with CIU frequently exhibit psychiatric comorbidity, most commonly depression and anxiety disorders consistent with our findings. Psychiatric comorbidities were registered in 60% of the CIU adult population and 70% of CIU pediatric population (versus 30% of controls); while depression was the most common diagnosis in adults, anxiety disorders were more frequent in children. The most common diagnoses included social anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, and specific phobias. The present study confirms these findings in a Turkish population. In conclusion, CIU is a psychosomatic disorder and usually accompanied by a psychiatric disorder. The high frequency of psychiatric comorbidity must be kept in mind while evaluating these patients.