Adolescents with skin disease have specific quality of life issues

BACKGROUND: Adolescence is a period of life with its own unique characteristics.

OBJECTIVES: To provide an in-depth understanding of the impact of skin disease on different aspects of adolescents' health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

METHODS: Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of dermatology patients between 12 and 19 years of age, attending the dermatology outpatient clinic of a secondary referral centre. Participants were invited to talk in detail about all the ways their lives had been affected by their skin disease. Interviews were transcribed verbatim.

RESULTS: Thirty-two adolescents (males = 10, females = 22) with a mean age of 15.7 years (range = 12-18 years) participated in the interviews. Twenty-eight HRQoL themes adversely affected by skin diseases were identified from the interviews which were grouped under 6 main HRQoL domains - psychological impact (91% of patients), physical impact (81%), social impact (81%), impact on lifestyle (63%), need for support (41%) and education and employment (34%). The number of HRQoL themes affected in each individual varied between 1 and 23 (mean = 8.1).

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study revealed the extent and nature of the impact of skin diseases on adolescents' HRQoL. A number of issues identified were specific to adolescents, highlighting the need for specific HRQoL assessment.