Dermatology life quality index in Thai patients with systemic sclerosis: A cross-sectional study

Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystem disorder that affects various organ systems. Although SSc patients have both physical and psychological illness, psychological distress is sometimes underestimated as most physicians usually pay more attention to physical problems.
Aims: To evaluate dermatology-specific health-related quality of life (QoL) in Thai patients with SSc.
Methods: SSc patients, who attended the Department of Dermatology, Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand, between August 2009 and April 2010, were enrolled. The demographic data and skin manifestations of the patients were recorded. Skin thickness of each patient was analyzed by modified Rodnan skin score. QoL was evaluated by using the validated Thai version of dermatology life quality index (DLQI) questionnaire.
Results: A total of 80 patients of SSc were enrolled in this study. Twelve patients had limited SSc, while 68 patients had diffuse SSc. The mean (SD) disease duration before period of evaluation was 9 (12.8) years. The mean total of DLQI score was 6.3 (range, 0-23). Patients with low DLQI score have longer disease duration than patients with high DLQI score (P<0.05). Pain/pruritus was the most significant problem to the patients. Salt and pepper appearance was the cutaneous finding that had association with high DLQI score.
Conclusions: SSc had moderate impact on patient’s dermatology-specific health-related QoL. Pain, pruritus, and obvious skin findings caused a significant impairment to SSc patients. Therefore, the treatment of pain and pruritus and prominent cutaneous findings should be taken into account to improve QoL of SSc patients.