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.
Dipartimento di Patologia Sistematica, Sezione di Dermatologia Clinica, Allergologica e Venereologica, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy. ayala@unina.it
Fabio
F
Ayala
Massimiliano
M
Nino
Gabriella
G
Fabbrocini
Luigia
L
Panariello
Nicola
N
Balato
Caterina
C
Foti
Antonella
A
Tosti
Monica
M
Corazza
Rossano Hermes
RH
Valsecchi
Massimo
M
Gola
Rosella
R
Gallo
Fabrizio
F
Guarneri
Paolo Daniele
PD
Pigatto
Antonio
A
Cristaudo
Donatella
D
Schena
Maria Letizia
ML
Musumeci
Luca
L
Stingeni
Paolo
P
Lisi
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