Cent Eur J Public Health 2020, 28(3):219-225 | DOI: 10.21101/cejph.a5611

Quality of life of patients with psoriasis

Jindra Šmejkalová¹, Lenka Borská², Květa Hamáková³, Lenka Hodačová⁴, Eva Čermáková⁵, Zdeněk Fiala¹

¹ Department of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

² Department of Pathological Physiology, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

³ Department of Dermatology and Venerology, Faculty Hospital Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

⁴ Department of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

⁵ Computer Technology Centre, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

Objective: The two main aims of our study were to assess the quality of life (QOL) of patients with moderate or severe psoriasis treated by Goeckerman therapy and to compare QOL of our patients on the date of admission and 1 month after their discharge.

Methods: We performed a prospective study on 51 patients treated for chronic plaque psoriasis by Goeckerman regimen (GR). The psoriasis area involvement and severity was measured using the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). Patients' health-related QOL was evaluated using Psoriasis Disability Index (PDI).

Results: In our study we demonstrated that the QOL of this sample of 51 patients with severe forms of psoriasis was relatively good; an average PDI value on the day of admission was 9.02, which represents a small effect on patient's QOL. We did not find any significant differences in QOL between younger and older respondents or between men and women. Despite good treatment efficiency, we did not find improvement in QOL 1 month after discharge.

Conclusions: The QOL of our patients was relatively good. This could be explained by the fact that our patients have been suffering from psoriasis for many years and have probably adapted to their disease. QOL of our patients was not directly dependent on the extent and intensity of skin changes. Further studies on the connection between psoriasis therapy and patients' QOL are still highly needed.

Keywords: psoriasis, quality of life, Goeckerman therapy

Received: November 15, 2018; Revised: June 8, 2020; Accepted: June 8, 2020; Published: September 30, 2020  Show citation