Experiences of Young Girls with Psoriasis: A Descriptive Phenomenological Study

Background: Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease with detrimental effects on patients’ physical, mental, and social health. Living with this physical skin disorder can pose a threat to patients’ identity and bring about unwanted changes to their role, mental image, and lifestyle. Hence, the analysis of different experiences and perceptions of people living with psoriasis can help healthcare managers and policymakers in adopting the most efficient coping strategies. Objectives: The study aimed to explain the experiences of young girls with psoriasis. Methods: This qualitative descriptive phenomenological study was conducted using in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 10 young girls with psoriasis who referred to the Dermatology Clinics of Zahedan hospitals in 2018 - 2019. The participants were selected using purposive sampling and the data were analyzed by Colaizzi’s method. Results: The themes describing the experiences of young girls with psoriasis included the challenging emergence of disease, indefatigability in pursuit of ineffective treatment, social stigma as a community gift to the patients, and fear of uncertain future. Conclusions: The challenges of the incidence of disease at a young age and insistence on ineffective treatments were highly evident in the experiences of patients. The patients were also concerned about the social stigma associated with the disease, which could pose further challenges to their uncertain future. According to the findings, increasing public awareness of the disease and applying psychological strategies can be effective in addressing the problems of psoriasis patients. Elevating the awareness of families to accompany the patients in treatments can also be another effective measure.