Quality of life and stress in patients with dermatological disease

Cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je ispitati odnos sociodemografskih karakteristika i kliničkih karakteristika bolesti s kvalitetom života i doživljajem stresa osoba oboljelih od dermatoloških bolesti te ispitati predviđaju li i u kojoj mjeri sociodemografske karakteristike, kliničke karakteristike bolesti te doživljaj stresa i dermatološka kvaliteta života opću kvalitetu života osoba s dermatološkim oboljenjima. Sudionici istraživanja bili su pacijenti oboljeli od rosaceje, akni i seboroičkog dermatitisa koji dolaze na pregled u Kliniku za kožne i spolne bolesti KBC „Sestre milosrdnice“ u Zagrebu. Uzorak je činilo ukupno 182 sudionika, od toga 126 ispitanika ženskog spola te 56 muškog spola, raspona dobi od 15 do 80 godina. U istraživanju su korišteni sljedeći upitnici: Upitnik općih podataka o ispitaniku, Dermatološki klinički upitnik za dobivanje podataka o kliničkim karakteristikama bolesti, Indeks osobne kvalitete života (PWI) kao opća mjera kvalitete života, Dermatološki indeks kvalitete života (DLQI) za procjenu dermatološke kvalitete života te Upitnik percepcije stresa (PSS) za procjenu doživljaja stresa ispitanika. Rezultati su pokazali da postoji statistički značajna povezanost ženskog spola s nižom dermatološkom kvalitetom života i većim doživljajem stresa, dok se dob pokazala negativno povezanom s ukupnom kvalitetom života. Nadalje, klinička procjena težine bolesti pozitivno je povezana s dermatološkom kvalitetom života, ali ne i s ukupnom kvalitetom života. Rezultati provedene hijerarhijske regresijske analize pokazali su da su dob, dermatološka kvaliteta života te doživljaj stresa važni prediktori opće kvalitete života. Ovi rezultati nude praktične implikacije za poboljšanje kvalitete života osoba oboljelih od dermatoloških bolesti djelovanjem na doživljaj stresa bolesnika.The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics of skin disease, quality of life and stress perception in dermatological patients and to determine whether socio-demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics of skin disease, dermatology-specific quality of life and stress perception predict quality of life. Participants of the study were patients with rosacea (N=60), acne (N=70) and seborrheic dermatitis (N=52) who completed a survey during a patient visit in Department of Dermatology and Venereology at University Hospital Centre "Sestre milosrdnice" in Zagreb. The sample consisted of 182 participants in total, 126 female and 56 male, aged between 15 and 80. The following instruments were used: General questionnaire, Dermatological clinical questionnaire to identify clinical characteristics of skin disease, Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) as a general measure of quality of life, Dermatological Quality of Life Index (DLQI) as a measure of dermatologic-specific quality of life and Percieved Stress Scale (PSS) to assess perceived stress. The results indicate a significant relation between female gender and lower dermatologic-specific quality of life and higher stress perception, while negative correlation between age and overall quality of life was found. In addition, clinical severity was positively correlated with dermatologic-specific quality of life, but no significant correlations with overall quality of life were found. Multiple regression analysis revealed that age, dermatology-specific quality of life and percieved stress were significant predictors of quality of life. These results offer practical implications in improving quality of life in dermatological patients by acting on the patient’s stress perception