Impact of atopic dermatitis on health-related quality of life in Spanish children and adults: the PSEDA study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Atopic dermatitis (AD) affects both children and adults. The main symptom of this disease is pruritus, which impacts health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of AD on the lives of children and adults with this disease.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This was a multicenter prospective epidemiological study of children (2-17 years) and adults (≥ 18 years) with AD selected from dermatology offices in Spain. The patients had all had AD for at least a year and had no other chronic inflammatory skin diseases. In addition to sociodemographic information, the data collected included the clinical features of AD and the results of patient-centered questionnaires: the Itch Severity Scale (ISS), the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and the children's version of this questionnaire (cDLQI).

RESULTS

We studied 151 children and 172 adults. The mean (SD) age of the children was 9.4 (4.5) years and 51.7% were boys. In the case of adults, the mean age was 32.3 (13.4) years and 58.7% were women. Among the children, the ISS score increased with disease severity and in the adults, both the frequency and intensity of pruritus increased with disease severity (P<.05 in both cases); 79% of the children and 87.1% of the adults reported difficulty sleeping. In both populations, overall and subscale DLQI and cDLQI scores varied according to disease severity.

CONCLUSIONS

AD affects HRQOL in both children and adults and its impact is correlated with the presence and intensity of pruritus.