Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2022 Nov-Dec;33(6S):S92-S103.
doi: 10.1097/DER.0000000000000908. Epub 2022 Jun 8.

General and Skin-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kamilla Koszorú, Krisztina Hajdu, Valentin Brodszky  1 , Ákos Szabó, Júlia Borza  2 , Katalin Bodai  3 , Györgyi Pónyai  2 , Andrea Szegedi, Miklós Sárdy, Fanni Rencz  1
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

General and Skin-Specific Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kamilla Koszorú et al. Dermatitis. 2022 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Background: Few studies have investigated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to compare HRQoL in adult AD patients before and during the pandemic and to assess measurement performance of 4 HRQoL measures.

Methods: Between 2018 and 2021, a multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted, involving 218 adult AD patients. Health-related quality of life outcomes included the EQ-5D-5L, Skindex-16, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and DLQI-Relevant (DLQI-R). Severity was measured using objective SCORing Atopic Dermatitis, Eczema Area and Severity Index, and Investigator Global Assessment.

Results: The mean ± SD EQ-5D-5L utility, Skindex-16, DLQI, and DLQI-R scores were 0.82 ± 0.22, 56.84 ± 27.46, 13.44 ± 8.46, and 13.76 ± 8.60, respectively. The patients reported more problems during the pandemic ( P < 0.05) regarding pain/discomfort (odds ratio [OR], 1.78), worrying (OR, 1.89), concerns about persistence/reoccurrence of disease (OR, 1.88), and social relationships (OR, 1.69). The HRQoL outcomes showed strong correlations with each other (range of rs , |0.69| to |0.99|). The Skindex-16, DLQI, and DLQI-R were able to discriminate between severity groups with large (η 2 = 0.20-0.23), whereas the EQ-5D-5L with moderate effect sizes (η 2 = 0.08-0.11).

Conclusions: Atopic dermatitis patients experienced significantly more problems in some areas of HRQoL during the pandemic. The EQ-5D-5L, Skindex-16, DLQI, and DLQI-R demonstrated good convergent and known-group validity and can be suitable instruments for HRQoL assessment in clinical and research settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Related to this work, M.S. has received support for travel to meetings for the study or other purposes from Lilly. Outside the submitted work, M.S. has received fees for board membership, consultancy, or lecturing from Janssen, Sanofi, Egis, Novartis, Leo Pharma, and Lilly. Outside the submitted work, A.S. has received fees for board membership or lecturing from Janssen, AbbVie, Lilly, and Sanofi. F.R. is a member of the EuroQol Group. Views expressed in the article are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the EuroQol Research Foundation. K.K.'s work was supported by the Semmelweis 250+ Excellence PhD Scholarship (EFOP-3.6.3-VEKOP-16-2017-00009). Á.S.'s work was supported by the Higher Education Institutional Excellence Program 2020 of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology in the framework of the 'Financial and Public Services' research project (TKP2020-IKA-02) at the Corvinus University of Budapest. F.R.'s work was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (BO/00304/21) and the New National Excellence Program of the Ministry for Innovation and Technology from the source of the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund (ÚNKP-21-5-CORVINUS-134). The other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of responses on the EQ-5D-5L, DLQI, and Skindex-16 before and since COVID-19. A, The EQ-5D-5L before COVID-19. B, The EQ-5D-5L since COVID-19. C, The DLQI before COVID-19. There was one missing response in the item 6 (sport) and another in item 9 (sexual difficulties). D, The DLQI since COVID-19. There was one missing response in the item 7 (working/studying). E, The Skindex-16 before COVID-19. There was one missing response in item 8 (frustration), item 9 (embarrassment), item 10 (being annoyed), item 11 (feeling depressed), and item 15 (daily activities). There were 2 missing responses in item 5 (persistence/reoccurrence), item 12 (interactions with others), and item 14 (show affection). There were 3 missing responses in item 13 (desire to be with people). F, Skindex-16 since COVID-19. There was 1 missing response in item 2 (burning or stinging), item 4 (skin irritation), item 6 (worry), item 7 (appearance), item 11 (feeling depressed), and item 13 (desire to be with people). There were 2 missing responses in item 3 (hurting), item 5 (persistence/reoccurrence), and item 16 (work or do what you enjoy). Percentages may not total 100 because of rounding. “Since COVID-19” refers to after March 11, 2020.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Langan SM, Irvine AD, Weidinger S. Atopic dermatitis. Lancet 2020;396:345–360. - PubMed
    1. Bylund S, Kobyletzki LB, Svalstedt M, et al. . Prevalence and incidence of atopic dermatitis: a systematic review. Acta Derm Venereol 2020;100:adv00160. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kowalska-Olędzka E, Czarnecka M, Baran A. Epidemiology of atopic dermatitis in Europe. J Drug Assess 2019;8:126–128. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Birdi G, Cooke R, Knibb RC. Impact of atopic dermatitis on quality of life in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Dermatol 2020;59:e75–e91. - PubMed
    1. Gabes M, Tischer C, Apfelbacher C. Measurement properties of quality-of-life outcome measures for children and adults with eczema: an updated systematic review. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2020;31:66–77. - PubMed

Publication types