Atopic Dermatitis Severity, Patient Perception of the Disease, and Personality Characteristics: How Are They Related to Quality of Life?

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin condition that greatly affects patients' quality of life, psychological condition, and social relationships. To analyze different aspects of AD patients' quality of life, we used the SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index (for AD severity), the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF), the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief IPQ), and the Crown-Crisp Experiential Index (CCEI) to analyze personality traits. The study included 84 AD patients, 42 with clinical manifestations and 42 in remission. SCORAD values correlated positively and linearly with DLQI (r = 0.551; < 0.001) and with disease impact on life, disease control, and disease symptoms (r = 0.350-0.398; ≤ 0.023). DLQI was also related to certain personality characteristics (free-floating anxiety disorder, obsession, somatization, and depression ( ≤ 0.032)). Symptomatic AD patients had a significantly more impaired DLQI than asymptomatic patients ( < 0.001) and the two groups differed in some IPQ dimensions, but they did not differ significantly concerning the WHOQOL-BREF dimensions and personality traits (CCEI). Since AD patient quality of life was dependent not only on disease severity but was also influenced by patient personality characteristics (anxiety disorder, obsession, somatization, depression), many factors need to be taken into account to create effective, patient-specific therapy regimens.