PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS AMONG SUBJECTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS-ERYTHEMATOSUS IN AN UNSELECTED POPULATION

The prevalence of lifetime psychiatric disorders was investigated amon g all known systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in Iceland. Th e participation rate was 81%. Over 49% of the subjects received a life time psychiatric diagnosis. The number of diagnoses per person was 2.3 . The most common disorder among those with a disorder was phobia (56% ), followed by generalized anxiety (12%). Agoraphobia with and without panic, simple, social phobia, and alcohol abuse were found to be more common among the SLE patients in comparison with a population sample (p<0.02; p<0.0001; p<0.001; p<0.0001; p<0.05, respectively). A possibl e explanation of the high rate of phobia may be related to the nature of clinical manifestations of SLE, including disfiguring facial skin r ashes which may lead to social withdrawal.