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Quality of life impairment in hidradenitis suppurativa: A study of 61 cases

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Objective

We sought to determine quality of life impairment in hidradenitis suppurativa.

Methods

Questionnaires were administered to 61 patients.

Results

Quality of life impact in hidradenitis was much greater than that of several other dermatologic conditions.

Limitation

This hospital-based population may not be representative.

Conclusion

Hidradenitis is one of the most distressing conditions observed in dermatology.

Section snippets

Physician-assessed clinical grading

In all, 61 consecutive patients referred to our specialized HS consultation service were prospectively evaluated by one of us (J. R.) during a period of 6 months. For each patient a case report form was completed including demographic characteristics, details of the course of the disease (eg, age at onset, continuous or intermittent disease), and details of the lesions. The outcome variables suggested by Sartorius et al5 were used to quantify disease intensity. The score of Sartorius et al5 was

Study population

In all, 61 patients (47 women and 14 men) were included in our study. Their mean age was 37.8 ± 11.5 years. The score of Sartorius et al5 was 25.1 ± 18.2 (range: 2-97). The self-reported disease duration was between 1 and 5 years for 11 patients, between 6 and 10 years for 21, between 11 and 19 years for 14, and more than 20 years for 13 (missing data: n = 2). A total of 28 patients had an intermittent disease and 27 had a continuous evolution (missing data: n = 6). The score of the visual

Discussion

Our findings are in agreement with previously published data confirming that HS has a significant impact on QoL.2, 3 The scores found for HS in our study showed much more impairment than those found in several other dermatologic conditions, including chronic urticaria, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and neurofibromatosis 1, all conditions traditionally regarded as causing significant disability.7, 8 Compared with these diseases, one can conclude that HS is a distressing condition for many

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Supported by PHRC 2005 (Hospital Clinical Research Program).

Conflicts of interest: None identified.

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