A study concerning quality of life among patients with Psoriasis compared with general population

Background: The reduction of disability caused by psoriasis is an important issue in dermatology. It is thus important to assess the patients’ appraisal of their quality of life. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess quality of life among patients with psoriasis and to compare these estimates with general population. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 55 patients and 55 control subjects were interviewed in Tehran Razi hospital. Quality of life was assessed by SF-36 and PDI questionnaires. Results: After score calculation in any domain of SF-36, it was seen that psoriasis patients reported significantly lower scores than the normal control subjects in all scales, except for physical functioning. The greatest difference was found in social functioning. The smallest difference was noticed in vitality. The psoriasis disability index score (PDI) was negatively correlated with all of the eight of the SF-36 health measures in psoriatic patients. Conclusion: These results show that psoriasis patients report poorer quality of life than general population. Therefore, in the case of these patients one most pay attention to the impact of this disease on different life domains.