PLoS One. 2026 Sep 10;21(9):e0357803. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0357803. eCollection 2026.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Acne vulgaris is associated with psychological morbidity, but clinically diagnosed phobic anxiety disorders (PADs) have been little studied in dermatology settings.
METHODS: The analysis comprised 280 patients with acne vulgaris recruited by convenience sampling at a national dermatology hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam, from December 2025 to June 2026. A psychiatrist established PAD diagnoses using ICD-10 clinical criteria; Fear Questionnaire scores were used descriptively to characterize phobic symptoms among diagnosed cases. Multivariable logistic regression estimated adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for factors associated with PADs.
RESULTS: PADs were diagnosed in 69 of 280 participants (24.6%; 95% CI, 20.0%-30.0%). Social phobia affected 64 participants (22.9% of the sample; 92.8% of PAD cases), specific phobia affected 26 (9.3%), and agoraphobia affected one (0.4%); subtypes could co-occur. In the exploratory adjusted model, PADs were associated with study-specific anxiety-proneness rating (aOR, 6.90; 95% CI, 2.92-16.32), physical comorbidity (aOR, 4.70; 95% CI, 2.30-9.60), acne scarring (aOR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.04-5.05), and poor treatment response (aOR, 5.06; 95% CI, 2.20-11.62). Clinician-rated severe acne was not associated with PADs after adjustment.
CONCLUSIONS: In this tertiary-care sample, PADs-predominantly social phobia-were common. Associations with scarring, treatment response, physical comorbidity, and study-specific anxiety-proneness warrant confirmation in prospective multicentre studies using standardized psychosocial and treatment-response measures.
PMID:42721183 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0357803
