Abstract
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder with well-documented effects on patients’ quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the QoL of patients with HS via the use of a newly developed questionnaire: Hidradenitis Suppurativa Quality of Life-24 (HSQoL-24). This study was performed on a population of 342 HS patients. Their QoL was assessed via the HSQoL-24 questionnaire. The perceived impairment of QoL due to HS in the studied group was considered to be serious (mean HSQoL-24 score: 58.3 ± 21.0 points). Women tended to experience a significantly higher impact from the disease than men (61.6 ± 19.2 points vs. 51.1 ± 23.1 points, p < 0.001). The HS severity had an effect on the perceived QoL, with statistically significant differences being evident between the self-assessed HS severity groups. The level of QoL impairment correlated positively with the number of affected body areas (r = 0.285, p < 0.001) and the duration of the disease (r = 0.173, p = 0.001), while the patients’ age at disease onset correlated negatively with the HSQoL-24 global score (r = −0.182, p = 0.001). Patients living in their family house scored higher than other groups. The least affected were patients who lived alone. The study shows that the HSQoL-24 questionnaire is a reliable, HS-specific tool for measuring the QoL among patients with HS in real-life clinical settings.
Highlights
Introduction iationsIn the last few decades, there has been a significant shift in the focus of medicine and research results towards patient-reported outcomes (PROs)
Similar results were observed for every life domain besides personal, for which the mean score was significantly lower (37.4 ± 25.1 points, indicating moderate quality of life (QoL) impairment) (Table 2)
Differences in QoL impairment were seen between different age groups
Summary
Introduction iationsIn the last few decades, there has been a significant shift in the focus of medicine and research results towards patient-reported outcomes (PROs). The concept of diseaserelated quality of life (QoL) has been gradually integrated into both clinical and research practices [1]. This has changed the old medicine model, which concentrated on objective measures (like laboratory results and blood pressure), into a new, holistic model that concentrates on the patient and highlights the importance of their QoL. Since 1994, when Finlay and Khan [3] developed the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), multiple dermatology- and disease-specific QoL questionnaires have been created [4]. The authors of this paper were determined to create a good instrument that would properly reflect the level of QoL impairment in patients suffering from hidradenitis
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