The psychosocial impact of psoriasis: physical severity, quality of life, and stigmatization

Men (N=58) and women (N=43) living with psoriasis completed questionnaires assessing quality of life and feelings of stigmatization. Physician ratings of disease severity were used in conjunction with these variables to accou nt for psychosocial impact. Results showed that ratings of severity were po or predictors of quality of life and stigmatization, Demographic variables (e.g., sex and education) were also generally poor predictors of psychosoci al outcome. It is concluded that attempts to understand the psychological i mpact of psoriasis in terms of current measures of disease severity and dem ographic characteristics will be limited. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. Al l rights reserved.