title: SF-36 healty survey on psoriasis quality-of-life: a study of 414 Taiwanese patients.
abstract: Psoriasis is a chronic debilitating disease that impairs patients' physical and social functioning. The assessment of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) provides a comprehensive insight into the actual disease burden that are not captured by the traditional clinical parameters. The objective of this study is to identify factors that may impact patients' HRQoL. We conducted a cross-sectional study, recruiting a total of 414 psoriasis vulgaris patients between January 2008 and December 2011. Our study found no significant correlation between disease severity or duration of psoriasis with HRQoL. Female patients have poorer HRQoL. Psoriatic arthritis, nail involvement, burning and itching sensation have a detrimental effect on HRQoL. This study highlighted that specific disease-associated symptoms such as itching and burning sensation, nail involvement and/or concomitant arthritis were important factors that may impact patients' HRQoL devoid of clinical severity. Physicians should carefully consider these factors when treating psoriasis patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chau Yee
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Ya-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Su-Hsun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jui-Fen R
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Li-Chen
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chih-Hsun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yu-Huei
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: SF-36; psoriasis; quality of life