02327nas a2200169   4500000000100000008004100001100001500042700001300057700001600070700001300086245011100099856005800210300001200268490000600280520185700286022001402143       2015                            d1 aAttama C M1 aUwakwe R1 aOnyeama G M1 aIgwe M N00aPsychiatric Morbidity among Subjects with Leprosy and Albinism in South East Nigeria: A Comparative Study.  uhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4455010/   a197-2040 v53 a<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Skin, which is the largest organ in the body, carries immense psychological significance. Disfiguring skin disorders may impact negatively on the mental health of individuals.</p>

<p><strong>AIM: </strong>This study compared the psychiatric morbidity of subjects with leprosy and albinism.</p>

<p><strong>SUBJECTS AND METHODS: </strong>One hundred subjects with leprosy and 100 with albinism were interviewed. Sociodemographic questionnaire and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) assessed the sociodemographic characteristics and psychiatric morbidity, respectively. GHQ positive cases and 10% of noncases for each group were interviewed with Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory for specific ICD-10 diagnoses.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Fifty-five percent (55/100) subjects with leprosy were GHQ positive cases while 41% (41/100) with albinism were GHQ positive cases. The risk of developing psychiatric morbidity was significantly higher in subjects with leprosy than in subjects with albinism (OR = 1.76, CI = 1.00 - 3.08, P = 0.04). The prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders among subjects with leprosy were depression 49% (49/100), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) 18% (18/100), alcohol/drug abuse 16% (16/100), whereas in albinism depression was 51% (51/100), GAD 27% (27/100), and alcohol/drug abuse 7% (7/100). Male, married and uneducated subjects with leprosy had significantly higher psychiatric morbidity than the male, married and uneducated subjects with albinism, respectively.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Psychiatric morbidity was higher in subjects with leprosy than in subjects with albinism. Male, married and uneducated subjects with leprosy significantly had higher morbidity than male, married and uneducated subjects with albinism respectively.</p>
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