Impact of Lifestyle and Emotional Health on Skin Ulcers: Clinical Insights from Recent Research

A recent MDPI analysis links modifiable lifestyle and emotional factors to higher skin ulcer burden. The investigators performed a cross‑sectional analysis of a single‑center pathology registry of adults with chronic skin ulcers.

Higher adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern was associated with lower patient‑reported physical symptoms and reduced clinical severity on adjusted measures; poorer adherence emerged as one of the stronger predictors of worse Skindex‑17 and Physician Global Assessment outcomes in the registry cohort.

Greater sleep disturbance correlated with higher patient‑reported severity and symptom burden, and the pattern of associations suggests sleep disruption may mark patients at risk for poorer perceived wound outcomes. Because sleep loss can amplify pain perception and inflammatory signaling, screening for sleep complaints and offering noninvasive sleep‑hygiene interventions or referral to sleep medicine or behavioral sleep specialists are reasonable considerations when addressing persistent ulcer symptoms.

Elevated anxiety and depressive symptoms independently predicted increased physical symptoms and higher clinical severity scores in adjusted models, indicating emotional health operates as a distinct contributor to overall disease burden. Given that mood disturbances were associated with both clinician‑assessed and patient‑reported measures rather than simply reflecting comorbid illness alone, integrating brief psychosocial screening into wound clinics and coordinating with mental health professionals is key.