Impact of atopic dermatitis on health-related quality of life in Spanish children and adults: the PSEDA study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Atopic dermatitis (AD) affects both children and adults. The main symptom of this disease is pruritus, which impacts health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of AD on the lives of children and adults with this disease. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a multicenter prospective epidemiological study of children (2-17 years) and adults (≥ 18 years) with AD selected from dermatology offices in Spain. The patients had all had AD for at least a year and had no other chronic inflammatory skin diseases. In addition to sociodemographic information, the data collected included the clinical features of AD and the results of patient-centered questionnaires: the Itch Severity Scale (ISS), the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and the children's version of this questionnaire (cDLQI). RESULTS: We studied 151 children and 172 adults. The mean (SD) age of the children was 9.4 (4.5) years and 51.7% were boys. In the case of adults, the mean age was 32.3 (13.4) years and 58.7% were women. Among the children, the ISS score increased with disease severity and in the adults, both the frequency and intensity of pruritus increased with disease severity (P<.05 in both cases); 79% of the children and 87.1% of the adults reported difficulty sleeping. In both populations, overall and subscale DLQI and cDLQI scores varied according to disease severity. CONCLUSIONS: AD affects HRQOL in both children and adults and its impact is correlated with the presence and intensity of pruritus.