Assessment of the Quality of Life in Autoimmune Blistering Skin Disease Patients

Moon, Seong Hun; Kwon, Hyoung Il; Park, Hyun Chul; Kim, Jeong Eun; Ko, Joo Yeon; Ro, Young Suck

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Autoimmune blistering skin diseases such as pemphigus vulgaris, pemphigus foliaceus, bullous pemphigoid and epidermolysis bullosa acquisita substantially affect patients' daily life and psychosocial well-being.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in patients with autoimmune blistering diseases and to identify the factors that can influence their QOL by comparing them to healthy controls.
METHODS
Forty patients with autoimmune blistering skin diseases and 40 healthy controls were interviewed using the Korean version of Skindex-29. The study assessed the clinical severity of the disease.
RESULTS
The total, symptom, function, and emotion scores of Skindex-29 were significantly higher in patients with autoimmune blistering skin diseases (35.28, 40.78, 30.57, and 36.67, respectively) than in the healthy controls (6.90, 9.38, 5.47, and 6.60, respectively) (p<0.001). Higher disease severity had a negative correlation with QOL in patients with blistering skin diseases, and QOL was lower when patients had low levels of satisfaction with treatment.
CONCLUSION
The results show that autoimmune blistering skin diseases can affect patients' QOL. In addition, disease severity and low satisfaction with treatment are important factors that reduce QOL. Development of new treatments should improve treatment efficacy and the QOL of patients with autoimmune blistering diseases.