Quality of Life is More Affected in Psoriasis than Vitiligo: A Study of 40 Moroccan Patients.
Health-Related Quality of Life assessment has become an important endpoint in clinical management
decision-making of skin disease, particularly in psoriasis.
QoL impairment in psoriasis is not limited to physical discomfort.
A number of studies showed that the disease has a particularly negative effect
on self-perception of body image leading to low self-esteem, stigma, and a feeling of shame
in the patient because of the psoriasis lesions.
These are all factors affecting quality of life, as well as having a chronic disease with
treatment side effects. Therefore, it is important to consider psoriasis as a serious disease and
resist the tendency to underestimate its impact on the overall patient well-being.
This study aims at estimating health related QoL in psoriatic population which is compared
to the level of disability caused by vitiligo.
It is also our purpose to detect patients at risk of experiencing a poor quality of life
and to identify variables that may predict this impairment.
A prospective study was conducted at the Dermatology and Venerology Department
at Ibn Rushd University Hospital from June to October 2012.
Subjects were selected among patients referred to the outpatient department for psoriasis or
vitiligo. Patients requiring hospitalization were excluded.
All participants were interviewed and examined by the dermatologist, who carried out
a Body Surface Area and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index assessment in psoriasis.
A questionnaire collecting socio-demographic data such as age, gender, skin color,
marital status and education level, lesions topography and visible areas involvement
were completed by the same dermatologist.
Dermatol Open J. 2016; 1(1): 9-13. doi: 10.17140/DRMTOJ-1-104
