Perceived Severity and Quality of Life of Egyptian Psoriasis Patients

Abstract

Background: Psoriasis is an enduring skin disease that has profound limitations in the patients' daily life, depending on disease severity. So that, the aim of this study was to assess the perceived psoriasis severity and quality of life in Egyptian patients with psoriasis. Subjects and methods: A descriptive research design was utilized to conduct this study in the dermatology outpatient clinic at Zagazig University Hospitals, Zagazig, Egypt.  A purposive sample of 120 psoriasis patients were interviewed and completed a questionnaire consisted of three parts: (1) socio-demographic and disease characteristics, (2) Self-administered Simplified Psoriasis Index-severity (saSPI-s), and(3)Arabic version of Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). The results revealed that 51.7%, 40.8 %, and 18.1% of the patients showed mild, moderate and severe psoriasis, respectively. Also, the mean DLQI scores were 8.62 and psoriasis exerted moderate, very large and extremely large effect on the daily life of 28.3%, 26.7%, and 6.7% of the patients, respectively.  In addition, there was a significant moderate positive correlation between psoriasis severity and the patients' quality of life as measured by self-reporting. Conclusion: The majority of the patients had mild to moderate severity. Psoriasis has a deleterious effect on the majority of patient's quality of life and the assessment of patients' perceived psoriasis severity is crucial factor influencing their quality of life. Recommendation: Design and implementing more effective and tailored rehabilitation nursing intervention for psoriasis patients to improve their quality of life.