The burden of psoriasis: A study concerning health-related quality of life among Norwegian adult patients with psoriasis compared with general population norms

Background: The reduction of disability caused by psoriasis is an important issue in dermatology. It is thus important to assess the patients' appraisal of their health-related quality of life. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess health-related quality of life among patients with psoriasis and to compare these estimates with population norms. Methods: The samples comprised 283 patients and 2323 control subjects representative of the general Norwegian population. Health-related quality of life was assessed by means of the SF-36. Results: Both demographic and clinical variables, such as age, gender, educational level, hospital setting, comorbidity, and physical symptoms, affected the different SF-SG scales among the patients. After adjustments had been made for age, gender, and educational level, it was seen that psoriasis patients reported significantly lower scores than the normal controls on all scales. The greatest difference was found on the role emotional scare. The smallest difference was found on the health transition scale. Conclusion: These results show that psoriasis patients report poorer health-related quality of life than the general population. Therefore patient care of psoriasis must give attention to the impact of the disease on different life domains.