Correlation between Quality of Life and Disease Severity in Children with Atopic Dermatitis in the S
Abstract
Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) can affect the behavior, life and development of children. Little is known regarding the effect of AD on the quality of life (QoL) in children of the Gulf region and especially in the state of Qatar.
Objectives To study the impact of AD on the QoL in children and its relation to disease severity in the state of Qatar.
Methods This study was conducted on 45 patients with atopic dermatitis aged from 5 to 16 years who attended the out-patient clinic of Dermatology Department, Rummilah Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. The UK diagnostic criteria of AD were used for the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis. Disease severity was assessed using modified SCORAD (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis) measuring only objective criteria .The Children Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) was used to quantify the impact of AD on children’s quality of life. SPSS 14.0 statistical package has been used for the analysis. Correlation coefficient (Pearson) was calculated to see association between variables.
Results There were a positive significant correlation between objective SCORAD and each question from 1to 10 as well as total score of CDLQI except for question 2, the strongest relation between objective SCORAD and CDLQI was found on question 1(symptoms) and question 9(sleep). It was statistically evident that as the SCORAD index increases the CDLQI increases.
Conclusion The study has shown adverse effects of AD on children QoL especially on symptoms and feelings and a positive correlation between CDLQI and modified SCORAD which denote the effect of AD on the lives and development of children. We recommend the use of CDLQI in research work as an additional subjective measure to the clinical objective scoring tools used in chronic skin diseases.
Introduction
Atopic dermatitis is an itchy, chronic or chronically relapsing, inflammatory skin condition which is most prevalent in childhood. It is known to affect 10-20% of children(1).
The prevalence of AD has increased during the past 3 decades(2) and is probably due to modification of lifestyles and environment(3). AD can cause serious implications in the patients and their family’s life(4-6). Among dermatological diseases that affect children, AD is the one with the greater impact on patients and their families, similar to type І diabetes(5). In our study we aimed to quantify the burden of AD in QoL of children in the state of Qatar. Quantification of quality of life is important because it provides additional information to the objective clinical scoring tools which can be used to assess efficacy of treatment modalities and resource allocation. Four methods are used to measure the impact of a disease or treatment on the QoL: (1) generic instruments such as 36- item Short- Form Health Survey)(7,8), (2) specialty-specific questionnaires such as Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI)(9) or SKINDEX(10), (3) disease- specific methods such as Quality of Life Index for Atopic Dermatitis(11) and, (4) utility methods such as time trade-off(12) or time spent on treatment(13). Disease-specific Health Related QoL measures are felt to be the most accurate for measuring the impact of a particular disease, while generic measures permit disease comparison between specialties and the normal population(14).
Received: 15 February 2009
Accepted: 1st referee: 17 March 2009
2nd referee: 12 April 2009
Correlation between Quality of Life and Disease Severity in Children with Atopic Dermatitis in the State of Qatar
Hessa Al-Buainain, Kholoud Al Mahmoud, Mohamed Allam
Dermatology Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Abstract
Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) can affect the behavior, life and development of children. Little is known regarding the effect of AD on the quality of life (QoL) in children of the Gulf region and especially in the state of Qatar.
Objectives To study the impact of AD on the QoL in children and its relation to disease severity in the state of Qatar.
Methods This study was conducted on 45 patients with atopic dermatitis aged from 5 to 16 years who attended the out-patient clinic of Dermatology Department, Rummilah Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. The UK diagnostic criteria of AD were used for the diagnosis of atopic dermatitis. Disease severity was assessed using modified SCORAD (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis) measuring only objective criteria .The Children Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) was used to quantify the impact of AD on children’s quality of life. SPSS 14.0 statistical package has been used for the analysis. Correlation coefficient (Pearson) was calculated to see association between variables.
Results There were a positive significant correlation between objective SCORAD and each question from 1to 10 as well as total score of CDLQI except for question 2, the strongest relation between objective SCORAD and CDLQI was found on question 1(symptoms) and question 9(sleep). It was statistically evident that as the SCORAD index increases the CDLQI increases.
Conclusion The study has shown adverse effects of AD on children QoL especially on symptoms and feelings and a positive correlation between CDLQI and modified SCORAD which denote the effect of AD on the lives and development of children. We recommend the use of CDLQI in research work as an additional subjective measure to the clinical objective scoring tools used in chronic skin diseases.
Introduction
Atopic dermatitis is an itchy, chronic or chronically relapsing, inflammatory skin condition which is most prevalent in childhood. It is known to affect 10-20% of children(1).
The prevalence of AD has increased during the past 3 decades(2) and is probably due to modification of lifestyles and environment(3). AD can cause serious implications in the patients and their family’s life(4-6). Among dermatological diseases that affect children, AD is the one with the greater impact on patients and their families, similar to type І diabetes(5). In our study we aimed to quantify the burden of AD in QoL of children in the state of Qatar. Quantification of quality of life is important because it provides additional information to the objective clinical scoring tools which can be used to assess efficacy of treatment modalities and resource allocation. Four methods are used to measure the impact of a disease or treatment on the QoL: (1) generic instruments such as 36- item Short- Form Health Survey)(7,8), (2) specialty-specific questionnaires such as Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI)(9) or SKINDEX(10), (3) disease- specific methods such as Quality of Life Index for Atopic Dermatitis(11) and, (4) utility methods such as time trade-off(12) or time spent on treatment(13). Disease-specific Health Related QoL measures are felt to be the most accurate for measuring the impact of a particular disease, while generic measures permit disease comparison between specialties and the normal population(14).