ReportsQuantifying the harmful effect of psoriasis on health-related quality of life☆,☆☆,★
Section snippets
Patients
A total of 35 consecutive patient-subjects, older than 18 years, who spoke English and presented at various stages of an ongoing National Institutes of Health (NIH) randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial evaluating recombinant human interleukin 10 (IL-10) for moderate to severe psoriasis were invited to participate (response rate: 100%). No subject was paid to participate. The protocol and survey instruments were approved by the Office of Human Subjects Research at the NIH Warren G.
Statistical analysis
For each dependent variable (SAPASI, SWB, EQ-5D [utility and VAS score], and the SF-36 [general health, body pain, social functioning, mental health, role-physical, vitality]), a stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed to ascertain which, if any, of the independent variables (PASI, age, sex, race, marital status, education, employment, 6 questions of patient impact, perception of general health, the number of comorbidities, physical pain, and a previous diagnosis of
Patient characteristics
Table I provides the sociodemographic characteristics of the 35 patients who completed the self-response questionnaire.
Characteristic Group PASI < 10 n (%) PASI ≥ 10 n (%) P SAPASI < 10 n (%) SAPASI ≤ 10 n (%) P Age (y) <49 5 (29) 12 (71) .72 5 (29) 12 (71) .72 ≥49 7 (39) 11 (61) 7 (39) 11 (61) Sex Male 6 (29) 15 (71) .48 7 (33) 14 (67)
Discussion
The importance of skin disease has often been underrecognized by society; however, nearly half of a population surveyed in the United States indicated they would rather have a medical condition generally considered more dangerous, such as hypertension or asthma, than a skin condition like psoriasis.37, 38 By illustrating that the effect of psoriasis on quality of life is substantial using 3 standard metrics that evaluate well-being, this study provides additional quantitative evidence to
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Cited by (0)
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This research was conducted as part of on-going work at the National Institutes of Health; no outside funding was sought.
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Conflict of interest: None.
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Reprint requests: Alexa B. Kimball, MD, MPH, 900 Blake Wilbur Dr, Room W0024, Stanford, CA 94305. E-mail: [email protected].