Quality of life and contact dermatitis: a disease-specific questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
Contact dermatitis (CD) is a chronic disease with a significant impact on quality of life (QoL). There have been relatively few reports in the literature on specific QoL outcomes for patients suffering from CD.


OBJECTIVE
To develop a new instrument specifically designed to measure QoL in CD and to investigate which disease features could strongly influence QoL.


METHODS
Three hundred seventy-two patients affected by CD were administered a 20-item questionnaire, which comprised some questions taken and modified from the Dermatology Life Quality Index and the Skindex 16. Six more items were added. Univariate analysis and a chi-square test were performed.


RESULTS
Females reported lower QoL scores than males. Three aspects (itching, discomfort, and difficulty in daily activities) were strongly associated with a poor QoL; even if patients who experienced difficulty in using their hands at work had a poor QoL, the statistical significance was very low.


CONCLUSIONS
A CD-specific questionnaire can be used to understand a priori the impact on psychological behaviour of the patient and can lead to specific choices, such as the appropriate therapy to be used, the evaluation of treatment efficacy, the choice of preventive devices, and the comparison with QoL of other dermatoses.
Ayala
Fabio
F
Dipartimento di Patologia Sistematica, Sezione di Dermatologia Clinica, Allergologica e Venereologica, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy. ayala@unina.it
Nino
Massimiliano
M
Fabbrocini
Gabriella
G
Panariello
Luigia
L
Balato
Nicola
N
Foti
Caterina
C
Tosti
Antonella
A
Corazza
Monica
M
Valsecchi
Rossano Hermes
RH
Gola
Massimo
M
Gallo
Rosella
R
Guarneri
Fabrizio
F
Pigatto
Paolo Daniele
PD
Cristaudo
Antonio
A
Schena
Donatella
D
Musumeci
Maria Letizia
ML
Stingeni
Luca
L
Lisi
Paolo
P
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003877:Dermatitis, Contact / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011537:Pruritus / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult