Mental Health Diagnoses Associated with Hidradenitis Suppurativa Bacterial Cultures and Follow-Up Rates

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory disorder of the folliculo-sebaceous-apocrine unit which may negatively affect patients’ quality of life.1,2,3 A retrospective chart review was conducted to evaluate the correlation of yearly follow-up appointments and bacterial cultures of HS lesions with clinically diagnosed mental health disorders. Of the 478 patients reviewed, 42.1% had a documented mental health disorder (MHD). The most common MHD was depression (27.2%) followed by anxiety (23.8%). Patients with a MHD were more likely to have regular follow-ups (39.3%) compared to those without (36.8%); however, these findings were not statistically significant. Diagnosis of a MHD did not significantly correlate with: rate of follow-up (p=0.58), rate of cultures being performed (p=0.55), rate that an organism grew (p=0.32), number of locations affected (p=0.51), or sex (p=0.77). Patients with a MHD were about twice as likely to have lesions in the buttock area (4.5% vs 2.5%; p=0.28) and were less likely to grow S. aureus on culture, regardless of location (27.7% MHD vs 46.3% no-MHD; p=0.53).