Quality of life in patients with chronic urticaria is differentially impaired and determined by psychiatric comorbidity.

BACKGROUND: Chronic urticaria (CU), one of the most common skin disorders, is characterized by spontaneous recurrent bouts of weals and pruritus and associated with severely impaired quality of life (QoL). OBJECTIVES: To determine what aspects of life quality are affected and to characterize the factors that impact on QoL in CU patients. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This interdisciplinary interview/questionnaire-based study included 100 patients admitted to a University Hospital Dermatology Department for the identification of underlying causes of CU; 96 healthy subjects matched for age and sex were used as controls. QoL was assessed using Skindex-29, a validated instrument to measure the effects of skin disease on overall QoL (composite score) and three defined QoL aspects (emotions, symptoms, functioning). RESULTS: CU patients exhibited markedly reduced overall QoL compared with healthy control subjects. CU had distinct effects on the three QoL aspects assessed (functioning = emotions > symptoms). The age or sex of patients, the absence or presence of angio-oedemas, and the duration or cause of CU did not significantly influence QoL impairment. Interestingly, psychiatric comorbidity (depression, anxiety, somatoform disorders) was associated with a more pronounced reduction of QoL compared with CU patients without a psychiatric diagnosis and the severity of psychiatric disease was found to correlate with QoL impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm that overall QoL is markedly reduced in CU patients. Social functioning and emotions were found to be the areas of QoL most affected in CU patients. Psychiatric comorbidity significantly increased QoL impairment, whereas QoL in CU patients was not significantly affected by age or sex, the absence or presence of angio-oedema, or the course or cause of CU.

Comparative study of the impact of chronic urticaria, psoriasis and atopic dermatitis on the quality of life.

BACKGROUND: A better management of chronic skin disorders (CSDs) requires a knowledge of their impact from the patient's point of view. OBJECTIVES: To determine which aspects of the patient's life are mainly impaired in the different CSDs, and provide comparative references to estimate better the real impact of the different CSDs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional and matched study of 1356 adult outpatients to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQL) profile in chronic urticaria (466 CU), psoriasis (464 PSO) and atopic dermatitis (426 AD), using the VQ-Dermato, a multidimensional instrument in French validated for CSDs. RESULTS: After adjustment for confounders, HRQL dimensions were differently affected in the three CSDs. The 'physical discomfort' dimension was more degraded in AD and CU than in PSO (P < 0.001), and 'leisure activities' more in PSO than in CU (P < 0.001). 'Self-perception' and 'treatment-induced restrictions' dimensions were much less affected in CU than in PSO and AD (P < 0.001). In PSO, the 'daily living activities' dimension was much less impaired than in CU and AD (P < 0.001). No aspect of HRQL was really spared in AD. CONCLUSIONS: The comparison shows that CU, PSO and AD are characterized by completely different qualitative profiles of impact on HRQL, which are influenced by their clinical characteristics and usual treatment options. It underlines the severe impairment of CU which is often underestimated.