Assessment of the Quality of Life in Patients with Scabies in an Urban Tertiary Care Centre in North India

Introduction. Scabies is a highly contagious parasitic skin infestation caused by Sarcoptesscabiei mite causing social stigma in patients owing to skin lesions over the exposed body-parts. The present study was aimed at assessing the quality of life in scabies patients. Material and Methods. This non-interventional and cross section study included a total of a hundred newly diagnosed scabies cases above 5 years of age. The patients were given the questionnaire on the life quality affected by their disease and a detailed analysis was done afterwards. Results. Out of a hundred patients, 52% were females. The age group 21-40 years was most affected: 25.7% of adult patients had moderate effect while 55.9% of children suffered no effect on their quality of life. Conclusion. Scabies moderately affected the quality of life of the patients in the present study in the form of feeling of embarrassment, stigmata and shame associated with disease