Quality of life in skin diseases: methodological and practical comparison of different quality of life questionaires in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis

Aim of the present study was a comparison of four quality of life (QoL) que stionnaires in 228 patients with psoriasis (PSO, n=148) and atopic dermatit is (AD, n=80) regardings feasibility, discriminant validity and sensitivity to change. Evaluating were performed before and after treatment in clinic. The following questionaires were compared. 1) Freiburg Quality of Life Ass essment for Dermatoses (FLQA-d), 2) Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), 3) Chronic Skin Disease Questionnaire (CSDQ) and 4) questionnaire on everyd ay life (ALLTAG). All questionnaires were able to discriminate significant reductions of QoL in PSO and AD,as compared to controls. in parallel to the clinical improvement all questionnaires showed QoL improvements as well, i .e. the questionnaires were sensitive to change. However, not all of the DL QI and ALLTAG scales were sensitive to change. Also, in some cases part of the scales of these questionnaires could not be calculated due to missing d ata. Otherwise, all questionnaires were valid and easy to handle. Thus,QoL of patients with PSO and AD can reliably be assessed by various questionnai res. Decisive for selection are the aim and the design of the study.