Psoriasis can markedly impair the quality of life of patients irrespective of severity: Results of a hospital-based cross-sectional study

Background and Objectives: There are conflicting opinions in previous studies whether the quality of life (QoL) of patients with psoriasis is affected by its severity. The aim of the study was to assess the QoL of patients with psoriasis attending a tertiary care teaching hospital in central Kerala, India; and to find out if severity of psoriasis as measured by psoriasis area severity index (PASI) affects the QoL. Materials and Methods: We did a cross-sectional study of 49 patients with psoriasis. QoL was assessed using the Malayalam version of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). PASI was used to calculate the clinical severity of the disease. We calculated Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between these two scores. Results: Thirty-three (67.3%) patients had marked (moderate or above) impact on overall QoL. Among the various domains of the QoL, symptoms and feeling were found to be affected most, followed by work and school and daily activities. There was no significant correlation between PASI and the overall DLQI (Spearman r = 0.131, P = 0.37), though the domain of leisure activities showed moderately significant positive correlation (Spearman r = 0.037; P = 0.03) with PASI. Conclusion: Psoriasis markedly affects the QoL of the sufferers, especially in the domains of symptoms and feeling, work, and school as well as daily activities. This study does not provide evidence that impairment of QoL is related to severity of psoriasis.