title: Impact of propylthiouracil on quality of life in psoriasis patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psoriasis greatly impacts the quality of life (QOL) of patients including several dermatological conditions that are listed in the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). Decrease in psoriatic lesion as measured by Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) score is associated with improvement in QOL. Propylthiouracil (PTU) was found to be clinically efficient in clearing psoriatic lesions. Our objective is to find the extent of improvement in QOL in psoriatic patients treated with PTU.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-three psoriatic patients who were taking 300 mg PTU/day were involved in the study. Clinical improvement was assessed by PASI score and QOL was assessed by DLQI questionnaire at baseline, 6 th and 12 th week of PTU treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Psoriatic patients before treatment showed significantly increased DLQI score when compared with 6 and 12 weeks of PTU treatment which was found to be decreased significantly (P < 0.001) after PTU treatment. There was a positive correlation between DLQI and PASI score at all three intervals of treatment period at P < 0.001 (r = 0.793, r = 0.834, r = 0.801), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since PTU was found to improve the QOL of psoriasis patients, this study adds an advantage of using it as treatment option in psoriasis.
authors: Department of Medical Research, SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu, India.
authors: Hemamalini
authors: H
authors: Malligarjunan
authors: Haripriya
authors: H
authors: Dayalan
authors: Pushpa
authors: P
authors: Gnanaraj
authors: Tamilselvi
authors: T
authors: Elango
authors: Swapna
authors: S
authors: Subramanian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000963:Antimetabolites / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011441:Propylthiouracil / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000963:Antimetabolites; D011441:Propylthiouracil