Psychological interventions help skin

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SHEFFIELD, England, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Psychological interventions can provide benefits to patients with skin conditions such as psoriasis and atopic dermatitis, researchers in Britain said.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield, England, conducted a meta-analysis of 22 studies involving more than 900 participants.

The meta-analysis, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, found psychological interventions had a medium-sized effect on skin conditions but that a number of different factors influenced the effectiveness of the interventions, including: The type of intervention, the time interval between the end of the intervention and follow-up and the type of outcome.

"The number of skin conditions represented by the study was small but a medium-sized effect was seen for interventions treating psoriasis and atopic dermatitis," the researchers said in the review. "The analysis showed that psychological interventions generally had less effect on skin conditions accompanied by pain."

Four types of intervention were well enough represented for analysis: Habit reversal, cognitive behavioral therapy, arousal reduction and combined techniques.

Habit reversal had the largest effect size, followed by cognitive behavioural therapy and arousal reduction and combined techniques, the study said.