Dermatology-related quality of life could be linked to anxiety, depression, and stress among adults, supporting an association between dermatologic health and psychological well-being.
Researchers conducted an online cross-sectional study of 305 Brazilian adult participants between May and July 2024. The prticipants completed validated assessments of anxiety, depression, stress, and dermatology-related quality of life, while also reporting body mass index (BMI), age, sex, height, antibiotic use, dermatologic and mental health diagnoses, and habitual probiotic intake. The primary analyses examined the associations between dermatology-related quality of life, mental health measures, and probiotic consumption.
Nearly 50% of the participants reported dermatologic disorders, and over 50% of them were at risk for at least one mental health condition. Although Dermatology-related quality of life was significantly associated with anxiety, depression, and stress, these relationships were weak. By comparison, anxiety, depression, and stress demonstrated strong correlations with one another.
Female participants had higher anxiety, depression, stress, and dermatology-related quality-of-life scores compared with male participants, with moderate effect sizes across comparisons. In hierarchical regression analyses, stress and depression remained independent predictors of anxiety; whereas age, sex, BMI, and dermatology-related quality of life did not meaningfully improve the predictive model.
Just 19% of the participants reported consuming probiotic foods or supplements at least once weekly. The researchers found no statistically significant associations between probiotic intake and anxiety, depression, stress, or dermatology-related quality of life. They noted that the low prevalence of probiotic consumption likely limited the ability to detect potential associations and therefore considered these findings inconclusive rather than evidence of no effect.
The researchers acknowledged several limitations, including the study's cross-sectional design, which precluded conclusions about causality, recruitment through an online convenience sample that may limit generalizability, reliance on self-reported measures, and low probiotic exposure within the study population.
Overall, the findings suggested that poorer dermatology-related quality of life may be associated with greater psychological distress, supporting the concept of a bidirectional skin-brain relationship. The researchers noted that longitudinal studies and randomized clinical trials incorporating objective microbiome and inflammatory biomarkers will be needed to clarify whether probiotics influence this pathway.
"The results of this study reinforce that mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and stress are significantly associated with quality of life in dermatologic conditions, supporting the existence of a bidirectional skin-brain axis," wrote lead study author Polyanna de Mello, of the Departamento de Nutrição at the Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste in Brazil, and colleagues.
The study received no grants or other financial support. The study authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Journal of Dermatologic Science and Cosmetic Technology
