Bullying in persons with skin diseases.

BACKGROUND: There are few studies on bullying in skin diseases. Persons with skin diseases are especially prone to bullying. OBJECTIVES: This component of the project 'Bullying among Dermatologic Patients' aimed to study the prevalence and nature of bullying in patients with skin diseases from different countries and age groups. METHODS: Data were collected from participants of international social media groups for patients with skin diseases, in-patients and out-patients with skin diseases, and parents of children with skin diseases from six European countries. School and university students from Poland and Ukraine were asked to answer the question: Have you been bullied because of skin problems? RESULTS: Bullying was reported in 1016 patients with 36 different skin diseases. Prevalence of self-reported and parental-reported bullying was quite heterogeneous among different countries In total, self-reported bullying was noted by 25.6% of patients with skin diseases during face-to-face consultations, by 63.7% of respondents from international patients' groups and by 12.2% of school and university students. Parental-reported bullying was detected in 34.5% of 3-4 years old children with skin diseases. The peak of bullying prevalence occurred between the ages of 13 and 15. The most prevalent forms of bullying were verbal abuse and social isolation. Physical abuse was the least often reported form of bullying. Only 33.2% of participants talked to anyone about being bullied. Negative long-term effects of bullying were reported by 63% of respondents. CONCLUSIONS: Skin disease-related bullying was reported by patients in all centres of the project. The main manifestations of bullying were similar in different countries and among patients with different skin diseases. International activities aimed to decrease or prevent skin disease-related bullying in different age groups are needed. These activities should be multidirectional and target teachers, parents of classmates and classmates of children with skin diseases, patients' parents and patients themselves.

Validation of the dermatology-specific proxy instrument the Infants and Toddlers Dermatology Quality of Life.

BACKGROUND: The first dermatology-specific proxy health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instrument for children 0-4 years old with skin diseases, the Infants and Toddlers Dermatology Quality of Life (InToDermQoL), was recently developed. In order to avoid the problem of cross-cultural inequivalence focus groups work and pilot tests were organized simultaneously in all national centres of the project. The InToDermQoL showed good comprehensibility, clarity and acceptance. OBJECTIVE: To validate the InToDermQoL questionnaire during international field tests. METHODS: Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the InToDermQoL questionnaire were checked during international field tests. RESULTS: Parents of 473 children with skin diseases filled in the national language versions of the InToDermQoL questionnaire. All three age-specific versions of the InToDermQoL questionnaire with 10, 12 and 15 items, respectively, showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.90-0.93), good test-retest reliability (correlation coefficients > 0.9), significant correlations with the most widely used atopic dermatitis-specific proxy instrument, the Infants Dermatitis Quality of Life Index (correlation coefficients 0.68-0.79). The InToDermQoL versions for children <3 years old well correlated with the atopic dermatis severity measure Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (correlation coefficients 0.66 and 0.86 for 10 and 12 items versions, respectively). The InToDermQoL questionnaire discriminated well among different diagnoses and disease severity levels. CONCLUSION: Our field tests confirmed internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent and discriminant validity of the InToDermQoL questionnaire. Development and validation of the InToDermQoL questionnaire make it possible to assess dermatology-specific aspects of HRQoL in youngest children with skin diseases. There are many reasons to assess HRQoL in dermatologic clinical practice, and we hope that our new instrument will be used internationally in paediatric dermatology for research and practical needs.