The quality of life in patients with psoriasis

Background and Design: Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease requiring recurrent treatment and causing cosmetical problems. Therefore it affects patients' lives negatively. Opinions upon apperance, social relationships and daily activities alter due to cultural and religious factors in distinct populations. In this study we aimed to investigate the quality of life of patients in our population. Material and Method: "Psoriasis Quality of Life Questionnaire" was completed by 124 patients. Disease severity was scored with Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI). Patients' ages, sexes and illness duration were recorded. Joint involvement was also searched. The relationship between total quality of life score and each item was investigated. Results: Quality of life was worse in young patients (r = -0.19, P = 0.037) and in patients with a longer duration (r = 0.20, P = 0.026) or severe disease (r = 0.29, P = 0.002). No effect of age and arthritis on life quality was established (P>0.05). Men described more that people moved away by thinking of the contaquisity of the disease, hesitation of going to public places and negative influence on sex life when compared to women (p=0.009, p=0.003, p=0.001). Psychosocial problems (98.4%) were accepted more important than problems in daily activities (95.2%) and concerns about therapy (76.6%). Conclusion: Psoriasis constitutes a great concern in patients' lives. Patients especially young, with a long duration and a severe disease should be evaluated for the neseccity of psychiatric support in addition to the classical therapy