title: The Psoriasis Life Stress Inventory: a preliminary index of psoriasis-related stress.
abstract: The psychosocial impact of psoriasis may result in significant daily stress for the patient. We present a questionnaire, the Psoriasis Life Stress Inventory (PLSI), which provides a rating of psoriasis-related stress. Two hundred and seventeen psoriasis patients endorsed a list of psoriasis-related items they had experienced over the previous one month and rated the degree of stress associated with each item on a 4-point scale. The final version of the PLSI consisted of 15 items, each of which had been endorsed by at least 15% of patients. A PLSI score of > or = 10 (range 0 to 43) delineated patients with greater overall psoriasis severity (p = 0.007), more cosmetically disfiguring psoriasis (p < 0.01), greater number of flare-ups of psoriasis (p = 0.009) and greater pruritus severity (p = 0.001). This preliminary instrument provides a clinically useful index of psoriasis-related stress and needs to be tested among patients from different centers and in prospective studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Gupta
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D004954:Esthetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011537:Pruritus / Q000503:physiopathology; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D012917:Social Adjustment; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires