Impact of Psoriasis on Quality of Life of Family Members and Its Association with Anxiety and Depression

ABSTRACT

Background@#Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated, multisystem inflammatory skin disease that can profoundly impact the quality of life (QoL) of both patients and their families. This study aimed to analyse the impact of psoriasis on the QoL of patients’ family members and its association with anxiety and depression. @*Methods@#This was a cross-sectional study which had a total of 240 subjects (80 patients, 80 family members, and 80 healthy controls). The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire was used to evaluate the QoL of patients, and the Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI) questionnaire was used to assess the QoL of family members. In addition, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used to evaluate the state of anxiety or depression of all subjects, including the healthy controls.@*Results@#Up to 82.5% of family members of psoriasis patients had impaired QoL (FDLQI ≥2). The mean DLQI was 8.89±7.58, whereas the mean FDLQI scores was 7.58±6.09, showing the considerable impact of psoriasis on both patients and family members’ quality of life. There was a positive correlation between family members’ QoL with patients’ anxiety (rs =0.348; p=0.002) and depression (rs =0.276; p=0.013) level. However, no association was found between family members’ QoL with patients’ psoriasis severity (rs =0.173; p=0.126) and the DLQI scores (rs =0.137; p=0.224). Based on the HADS, the mean anxiety scores was 5.29±4.07 and the mean depression scores was 4.54±4.20 for family members. An anxiety disorder was suggested in 32.5%, while depression was suggested in 23.8% of family members.@*Conclusion@#Psoriasis has a significant impact on both patients and their family members, who experienced impairment of their QoL and higher levels of anxiety and depression.