The relationship between quality of life and the severity of psoriasis in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Patients with psoriasis experience a low quality of life and high treatment burden:

OBJECTIVES: To assess psoriatic patient quality of life using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) in the Northeastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Additionally, we evaluated the correlation between the DLQI and the clinical severity of psoriasis and examined demographic data and their relationship with the DLQI and psoriasis severity:

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a single-center, prospective, cross-sectional study at the University of Kafkas, Kars, Turkey. 127 adult patients were included in the study. The Turkish version of the DLQI was used. To measure psoriasis severity, the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) and Body Surface Area (BSA) were simultaneously evaluated. The patient demographics were compared with quality of life and the severity of psoriasis:

RESULTS: DLQI scores ranged from "very large" to "extremely large" in 61% of the patients. The psoriasis severity (BSA and PASI) was "mild" in 63% of patients. The quality of life was significantly affected in cigarette smokers and in patients whose disease included nail involvement. The PASI and BSA scores of patients with scalp and nail involvement were significantly higher. A significant, positive correlation was found between disease duration and the severity of psoriasis. BSA correlated with PASI:

CONCLUSION: The quality of life of psoriasis patients is strongly reduced. A significant relationship was found for DLQI with nail psoriasis and smoking. A linear, positive correlation was detected between the DLQI and BSA but not between the DLQI and PASI.