Warts are not merely blemishes on the skin: A study on the morbidity associated with having viral cutaneous warts.
Eighty-five people aged 2-76 years with 250 common and plantar warts were followed prospectively for 9 months. The majority (57; 67%) had one to two warts. Of the 54 subjects who had a past history of warts, 41 (75.9%) had sought treatment for them. Twenty-four (58.5%) said that treatment had been unsuccessful; 22 (53.7%) experienced pain during their treatment; 14 (34.1%) said that treatment had been inconvenient; nine (22%) required multiple treatments; and eight (19.5%) said the treatment resulted in the development of scars. The quality-of-life assessment related to their current warts revealed that 81.2% were moderately to extremely embarrassed by them; 70.5% were moderately to extremely concerned about negative appraisal by others for having them; 24.7% said that it was moderately to extremely difficult to play sport because of their warts. Moderate to severe discomfort from their warts occurred in 51.7% of people and 35.4% said they had moderate to severe pain. During the 9-month study period, 27 (31.8%) of the participants had at least one wart regress spontaneously with 49 (19.6%) of the 254 warts regressing during that time. These data confirm the impression that a wart is not merely a blemish on the skin. Warts have the potential to cause considerable morbidity at times; this should be taken into account when a patient asks for treatment.
Ciconte
Antoinette
A
University of Melbourne Department of Medicine (Dermatology), St Vincent's Hospital, Skin and Cancer Foundation Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Campbell
Jan
J
Tabrizi
Sepehr
S
Garland
Suzanne
S
Marks
Robin
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005528:Foot; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014860:Warts / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy