ABSTRACT
Introduction: Patients reporting with skin ailments to primaryhealthcare settings are often referred to specialty centreseither due to uncertainty in diagnosing skin conditions by thehealthcare professionals or because of incomplete treatmentoffered to the patients at this level of healthcare. Objectives:1.To assess the quality of life among adults reporting withskin diseases to a Primary healthcare setting. 2.To identify thetypes of skin diseases that required referral to specialty clinics.Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study wasconducted at an Urban Health Centre in Goa between July2018 and September 2018 among 150 consenting patientsaged 18 years and above reporting with skin ailments. Datawere collected by administering a pre-tested semi-structuredquestionnaire and the Quality of Life was assessed using theDermatology Life Quality Index. Data was summarised usingfrequencies and percentages for demographic characteristics,The DLQI was scored as per the method recommended bythe developers. Chi-Square test was used to determine theassociation among study variables. A P<0.05 was consideredstatistically significant.Results: Mean DLQI score in this study was 6.67 ± 4.147indicating a small to moderate effect of skin diseases onpatient’s QoL. Mean DLQI score of Symptoms/Feelingsdomain was 2.94 ± 1.475 out of a maximum score of six,followed by domains like Daily activities (1.12 ± 1.197) andWork/School (1.06 ± 1.148) respectively.Conclusion: A small to moderate impact on QoL was observedamong patients with skin conditions. This study suggests aneed for special training in the management of common skindiseases for healthcare professionals at primary healthcaresettings, at the same time adding the necessary medicationsused for the treatment of these common skin conditions tothe inventory of essential drugs maintained at this level ofhealthcare.