Factors accounting for the association between anxiety and depression, and eczema: the Hordaland health study (HUSK)

Anxiety and depression was measured in the general population (n = 15715) employing the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Information on eczema, female gender, omega-3 fatty acid supplement, health anxiety and somatization was obtained by self-report.Somatization and health anxiety accounted for more than half of the association between anxiety/depression, and eczema, while the other factors examined were of minor relevance for the association of interest.We found no support for female gender and omega-3 fatty acid supplement as contributing factors in the association between anxiety/depression, and eczema. Somatization and health anxiety accounted for about half of the association between anxiety/depression, and eczema, somatization contributed most. The association between anxiety/depression, and eczema was insignificant after adjustment for somatization and health anxiety. Biological mechanisms underlying the mediating effect of somatization are yet to be revealed.The field of psychodermatology addresses the interaction between skin and mind, and the association between anxiety and depression, and eczema is well documented in the literature [1-8]. However, despite of numerous hypotheses, there is still surprisingly little empirical evidence for mechanisms involved in this association.Omega-3 fatty acid level has been suggested to be a possible contributing factor in the association between depression and atopic eczema [7]. This hypothesis is inspired by reports of low levels of omega-3 fatty acids in blood and development of atopic disease [9], and reports of low dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids and depression [10-12].Timonen and colleagues have suggested that the association between atopic disorders and depression is limited to females only. This is based on their findings in two large, population-based studies, where women suffering from atopic diseases, compared with nonatopic subjects, were found to possess an elevated risk for developing dep