Self-Perceived Social Support of Patients with Chronic Skin Diseases in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: Chronic skin diseases have been recognised as having a detrimental effect on patients’ social functions. Objectives: To assess the perceived social support in patients with chronic skin disease and its associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and April 2019 on patients with skin diseases taking treatment at Asir Central Hospital, Abha, Saudi Arabia. Patients of both sexes aged above 18 years undergoing treatment for a skin disease in ACH for more than 3 months (chronic skin disease) were recruited by simple random sampling, and a total of 249 patients returned completed questionnaires. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect relevant information about the background and disease characteristics of the patients and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The software package IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0. Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp., was used for data entry and analysis. Descriptive statistics were used for patient characteristics, and perceived social support was analysed according to specific scoring criteria. The Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U test were used to find out the association of background and disease variables with the perceived social support. Correlation analysis was used to find the relationship of social support with the age of the patient. All associations were considered significant at p p = 0.002) with the age of the patient. Conclusion: Saudi patients with chronic skin disease have low social support. Some important insights into the functioning of social support were suggested by the study finding, which pointed to the significant effect of disease duration, type of disease, and presence of disease in second-degree relatives on the perception of social support in patients with a variety of chronic skin diseases. Qualitative exploratory and prospective research could help in understanding this aspect of psychosocial health in a better way and help to provide solutions.

Keywords

• chronic skin disease
• dermatological
• social support
• social health
• Saudi Arabia