title: Impact of chronic urticaria on the quality of life of patients followed up at a university hospital.
abstract: Chronic urticaria is a debilitating disease that considerably affects health-related quality of life, and the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire is the only questionnaire specifically designed for its evaluation.
  To evaluate the quality of life of patients with chronic urticaria, using the Brazilian Portuguese version of the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire.
  The Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire was self-administered in 112 chronic urticaria patients and disease activity was assessed through the Urticaria Activity Score. Clinical and socio-demographic characteristics of patients were studied, such as: age, sex, etiologic diagnosis of chronic urticaria, duration of disease and Urticaria Activity Score.
  The population studied was composed 85.72% of women with a mean age of 46 years (18-90), while the median disease duration period was 10 years (3 months-60 years). Regarding the etiologic diagnosis, 48.22% had chronic spontaneous urticaria; 22.32% associated with inducible urticaria, 28.57% with chronic autoimmune urticaria, and 23.21% had physical urticaria alone. Disease activity evaluated using the Urticaria Activity Score was 1.04 ± 1.61 (0-6). The total score for the Chronic Urticaria Quality of Life Questionnaire was 36 (0-100) and dimension I (sleep/mental status/eating) had a greater impact on quality of life. The items with the highest mean scores were nervousness and shame over lesions, while the items with the lowest scores were lip swelling and limitations on sporting activities.
  Chronic urticaria compromises patients' quality of life, mainly those with more severe disease or who are diagnosed with chronic autoimmune urticaria.
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriela Andrade Coelho
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
authors.forename: Gisele Viana
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
authors.forename: Solange Oliveira Rodrigues do
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Valle
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
authors.forename: Sérgio Duarte
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Dortas
authors.affiliation: Hospital São Zacarias - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
authors.forename: Soloni
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) - Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
authors.forename: Alfeu Tavares
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: França
authors.affiliation: University of Genoa - Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baiardini
authors.affiliation: University of Genoa - Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Walter Giorgio
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Canonica
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014581:Urticaria / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult