title: Disease-specific impairment of the quality of life in adult patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria.
abstract: Chronic urticaria (CU) is a common skin disorder characterized by wheals and pruritus lasting more than 6 weeks. Due to its long duration and changeable symptoms, the quality of life (QOL) of patients with CU can be impaired substantially. We evaluated the CU-QOL, a previously validated CU-specific QOL measure, and investigated factors influencing QOL in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) patients.
  
  
  
  A hospital-based cross-sectional study was performed on 390 adult patients diagnosed with CSU from March 2009 to December 2012 at the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Clinic at Ajou University Hospital. The CU-QOL questionnaire, urticaria activity score (UAS), combined angioedema, and serum total immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels were investigated.
  
  
  
  The average CU-QOL score obtained from the questionnaire was 70.6 (of 100 points). The CU-QOL scores correlated significantly with the UAS, particularly with the 15-point UAS (UAS-15; coefficient -0.532,p< 0.01) rather than the 6-point UAS (-0.502,p< 0.01). The patients presenting with angioedema and urticaria had poorer scores in the urticaria symptom domain than those with urticaria alone (37.4 vs. 46.9,p= 0.004). Log-transformed serum total IgE levels correlated significantly with CU-QOL (-0.131,p< 0.05). Multivariate regression models indicated that severe CU (UAS-15 score ≥ 13), log (total IgE), and the presence of angioedema were significant predictors of impaired CU-QOL (< 85 points).
  
  
  
  CU has a substantial negative impact on QOL. The assessment of UAS-15, total IgE, and the presence of angioedema can be useful to predict QOL of the patients with CSU.
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Won-Sun
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun-Soo
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Ga-Young
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Ban
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Hye
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoo-Seob
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Hae-Sim
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Ye
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000799:Angioedema / Q000150:complications*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014581:Urticaria / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Angioedema; Chronic; Immunoglobulin E; Quality of life; Urticaria