Background: Quality of Life (QoL) is an all-encompassing term which includes all factors influencing the person’s well-being, especially the psychological, social and physical aspects. The QoL of patients with chronic skin diseases may be limited to a great extent. This applies particularly for patients with atopic dermatitis. Usable predictor models for QoL have been tested for clinical use in various diseases (e.g. coronary bypass patients, COPD). However, no studies have been performed on predictors for QoL of patients with skin diseases so far. Objective: Study of the factors influencing QoL of patients with atopic dermatitis. Methods: 254 patients with atopic dermatitis were recruited. The internationally applied disease-specific questionnaire Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was used as the parameter of QoL. The Questionnaire on Coping with Skin Dis-ease (QCSD) and the Freiburger Questionnaire on Coping with Disease (FQCD) were used as psychometric instruments. The following factors were applied as independent variables: age, sex, age at first diagnosis, duration of disease, clinical score, FQCD total score, and the QCSD scales ‘Social anxieties,’ ‘Itching.’, ‘Helplessness’ and ‘Anxious-depressive mood’. Bivariate correlations and a multiple regression analysis were calculated to determine the influence factors. Results: The QCSD scale ‘Social anxieties’ and the SCORAD contributed most to the variance elucidation of the DLQI total score (T value: 14.81 and 5.71, respectively). The total FQCD score and the QCSD scale ‘Itching’ were also predictors. Overall, a variance elucidation of 64% resulted from the independent variables. Conclusion: Identification of specific predictive factors in QoL could help in designing differentiated therapies for patients with atopic dermatitis and in improving the QoL of these patients.

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© 2000 S. Karger GmbH, Freiburg
2000
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