Health-related quality of life in patients with psoriasis and atopic dermatitis measured with SF-36, DLQI and a subjective measure of disease activity

• Published in: Acta dermato-venereologica Vol. 80; no. 6; pp. 430 - 434
• Main Authors: LUNDBERG, Lena, JOHANNESSON, Magnus, SILVERDAHL, Margareta, HERMANSSON, Christina, LINDBERG, Magnus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala Acta dermato-venereologica 01-11-2000
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Dermatitis, Atopic - diagnosis; Dermatitis, Atopic - epidemiology; Dermatitis, Atopic - psychology; Dermatology; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Patient Participation; Psoriasis - diagnosis; Psoriasis - epidemiology; Psoriasis - psychology; Psoriasis. Parapsoriasis. Lichen; Quality of Life; Risk Assessment; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Sex Distribution; Sick Role; Surveys and Questionnaires; Sweden - epidemiology; Sweden; Human; Allergy; Immunopathology; Skin disease; Psoriasis; Atopic dermatitis; Atopy; Quality of life
• ISSN: 0001-5555; 1651-2057; 1651-2057
• DOI: 10.1080/000155500300012873

The impact of skin diseases on health-related quality of life is considerable. It is important to quantify the patient's perspective of the severity of their disease. Health-related quality of life was measured in 366 patients with skin diseases attending the dermatology outpatient clinic in Uppsala, Sweden, from November 1996 to December 1997, with 1 generic (SF-36) and 1 disease-specific (DLQI) health-related quality of life instrument, and a subjective measure of disease activity. The SF-36 mean scores were below those of the age- and gender-matched general population in Sweden. No difference in health-related quality of life was found between men and women or between patients with atopic dermatitis and psoriatic patients. However, patients with psoriatic arthritis had significantly poorer health-related quality of life than both patients with atopic dermatitis and psoriatic patients. The estimated correlations between the instruments were in the expected direction and mostly significant. The results confirm that skin diseases have an adverse impact on patients' health-related quality of life.