Physician and Trainee Beliefs and Comfort Regarding Psychodermatology Management: A Cross-sectional Survey From a Large Tertiary Care Center Faculty.

Abstract

Background: Both primary and secondary psychodermatoses are prevalent and dermatologists can play a pivotal role in their managment. We sought to understand dermatologists' training, comfort, and concerns for prescribing psychotropic medication for these condtions.

Methods: We surveyed 49 dermatologists at the University of Utah, querying demographic variables, training enviroment, exposure to psychotropic medication use in training, current prescribing comfort, and current prescribing patterns. Associations between questionnaire responses and dermatologist demographics and training patterns were evaluated using ordinal logistic regression.

Results: Across the 42 collected surveys, most had limited exposure to psychotropic medication and psychodermtoses managment in residency, most were encouraged to refer these patients to psychiatry, and lack of training on use and side effects were the most commonly cited reasons for not prescribing psychotropic medications. Having more faculty who advocated for psychtropic medication use and training during residency on psychodermatoses were associated with greater prescribing comfort (OR=6.77, 1.54-29.8 and OR=6.09, 1.80-20.6 respectively).

Conclusion: Most dermatologists surveyed had limited exposure and training using psychotrophic medications for psychodermatoses. Lack of training and experience with these medications was a significant factor affecting prescribing comfort, highlighting the improtance of expanded residency training on the use of psychotrophic medications and the managent of primary and secondary dermatoses.