Vitiligo is an idiopathic, non-contagious and often familial depigmentation disorder
affecting both sexes equally. The mostly progressive and patchy loss of the inherited
skin colour is not only a cosmetical problem, it has a profound impact on the patient¿s
well-being. Stigmatisation and rejection often causes depression, self-consciousness,
sexual problems and an impaired quality of life.
To further substantiate earlier investigations and to introduce new aspects, we utilised
the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and
the Adjustment to Chronic Skin Disorders Questionnaire (ACS) with its sub-scales on
Social anxiety / avoidance, Helplessness and Anxious-depressive Mood in 422 patients
and 55 healthy controls. We also included 103 children, their parents and 18 controls by
using the Children¿s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and an adapted version
of the ACS.
We found that patients with vitiligo experience high levels of stigmatisation. They have
an impaired quality of life and are more socially anxious / avoidant, helpless and
(anxious-) depressive compared to healthy controls. The results correlate with disease
severity, avoidant behaviour / hiding of vitiligo and the belief that psychological stress
influences the disease. Female patients are generally more affected. Treatment with
pseudocatalase PC-KUS improves quality of life and reduces anxious-depressive mood.
Children also suffer from stigmatisation and an impaired quality of life. Parents are
more socially anxious and helpless compared to the control group. / German Vitiligo Association (Deutscher Vitiligo Verein)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/4313 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Krüger, Christian |
| Contributors | Schallreuter, Karin U. |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Division of Biomedical Sciences, School of Life Sciences. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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