The effect of vitiligo on sexual relationships

doi:10.1016/0190-9622(90)70028-G

Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology

Volume 22, Issue 2, Part 1, February 1990, Pages 221-222

https://doi.org/10.1016/0190-9622(90)70028-G Get rights and content

To study the effect of vitiligo on interference with sexual relationships, we surveyed 158 patients by questionnaire. Although a majority of patients reported a negative impact on sexual relationships, most patients felt embarrassment when showing their body or meeting strangers. The majority of patients who reported a negative impact on sexual relationships attributed the problems to their embarrassment. Those who were particularly affected were those with low self-esteem, men, those to whom appearance is important, and single persons. Dermatologists should be especially alert to the effects of disfigurement and should, attempt to assist patients with this problem.

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Similarly, studies of those with a specific appearance-altering condition consistently report an impact upon sexuality and romantic relationships. Porter, Beuf, Lerner, and Nordlund (1990) reported that 25% percent of 158 participants with vitiligo believed their condition to have impacted negatively upon their sexual relationships. In a larger study of 936 patients with psoriasis, between 35.5% and 71.3% of participants reported encountering sexual difficulties as a result of their psoriasis (Sampogna, Gisondi, Tabolli, & Abeni, 2007).
The association between disfigurement (‘visible difference’) and romantic relationships has received relatively little consideration in the research literature. This qualitative research, conducted in the United Kingdom, explored participants’ accounts of their visible difference and romantic life. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 participants who had a variety of visible differences. Inductive thematic analysis demonstrated that participants understood their difference as having a pervasive and enduring impact. These encompassed challenges that must be negotiated in the formation of romantic relationships, including feeling unattractive to others and feeling personally devalued. Relevant physical and sexual sequelae were comprised of anxieties regarding informing partners of a difference, impacted sexual activity, and concerns about heritability. Finally, the potential for partner support and acceptance to positively impact romantic relationships was recognised. This research highlighted the need to extend our understanding of visible difference and intimate relationships and to develop effective interventions to ameliorate appearance-related concern.
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Vitiligo is a chronic common skin disease. The asymptomatic hypopigmented cutaneous lesions are considered by many health care professionals as a cosmetic problem only; however, vitiligo can have a major psychosocial impact on patients’ lives. We review some of the factors responsible for this impact, such as the general public’s wrong perception of the disease, feelings and emotional responses from patients, how stressful events can act as triggers of the disease, stigmatization experiences suffered by the patients, the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity, the effects on relationships and sex life, how quality of life in adults and children is impaired, and how treatment can improve it.
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Citation Excerpt :
Despite this negative perception by the general population, and even though it is classified by the WHO as a disease (L80), vitiligo is often considered as a benign disorder and most dermatologists do not offer active treatment, being pessimistic about the effect of therapeutic interventions on physical symptoms (Ongenae et al., 2004) whilst ignoring the effect of therapeutic interventions on the psychological and social impact of the disease (Njoo et al., 1999). Indeed, many studies have documented significant effects of vitiligo on health-related quality of life (QoL), using validated generic and dermatology-specific health-related QoL scales (Firooz et al., 2004; Kent and Al'Abadie, 1996; Kent and al-Abadie, 1996; Kostopoulou et al., 2009; Mattoo et al., 2002; Parsad et al., 2003a; Porter et al., 1978, 1986, 1990; Radtke et al., 2009; Sampogna et al., 2008; Schmid-Ott et al., 2007; Talsania et al., 2010). However, these generic instruments are not specifically designed for vitiligo and are probably not sensitive enough to detect subtle and relevant variations of QoL between individuals.
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: Funding for this project was provided by U.S. National Institutes of Health grant No. IP50-AM25252.

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The effect of vitiligo on sexual relationships

J Aging Stud