The Impact of Inflammatory and Infectious Diseases of Vulvar on Quality of Life

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to evaluate the effects of vulvar dermatoses (VD) and vulvar infections (VE) on anxiety, depression scores, general, and dermatological quality of life (QOL) of women. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional survey on patients diagnosed with VD and VE. All patients were assessed using a sociodemographic form, Skindex-29 scale, World Health Organization QOL (WHOQOL) BREF scale, Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAM-A), Hamilton depression rating scale (HAM-D). RESULTS HAM-A score was significantly higher in the VD group than in the control group. Based on age groups, all subscales of Skindex-29 were found to be higher in women > 50 years. For women with severe pruritus, the symptom subscale was higher in patients with skin involvement and the function and emotion subscales were higher in patients with and emotion subscales were higher in patients with mucosal involvement. CONCLUSIONS We found that VD was particularly significantly associated with decreased QOL.