Quality of life, disease burden and healthcare need of patients with vitiligo

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With aprevalence of 0.5-2%, vitiligo is one of the most common skin disorders worldwide with loss of pigment. The skin disease has adisfiguring, often stigmatising character and is often associated with psychosocial distress. To provide an overview of the psychosocial impairment, disease burden and resulting health care needs of patients with vitiligo. Narrative review based on aliterature search in PubMed for the years 1996-2022 on disease burden, quality of life and stigmatization is provided. The search yielded 175 relevant original papers including clinical studies, meta-analyses and systematic reviews (n = 65) for the search period. Alarge number of studies document that vitiligo is associated with considerable psychosocial stress and relevant losses in quality of life. Problem areas particularly concern stigmatisation, sexual dysfunction, anxiety, reduced self-esteem and problems at work. The observed increased levels of anxiety and depression correlate with the severity and activity of vitiligo. Often, comorbidity also contributes to reduced self-esteem and social isolation. These factors determine ahigh need for care in arelevant proportion of those affected. Vitiligo is not primarily acosmetic problem, but adisease requiring treatment according to the World Health Organisation's definition of health as physical, mental and social well-being. The benefits of treatment options are to be measured by their effects on patient-reported outcomes.