Assessing Quality of Life for Pets with Dermatologic Disease and Their Owners.

Quality of life (QoL) is defined as "the degree to which an individual enjoys his or her life." In canine dermatology, 2 research groups have developed and validated questionnaires for QoL assessment in dogs with dermatologic conditions, the first being limited to canine atopic dermatitis, and the second one applicable to all skin conditions. A third group is working on the validation of a different QoL questionnaire coupled with a treatment success assessment tool. In general, there is an inverse correlation between QoL and pruritus.