Quality of Life and Psychiatric Symptoms in School-aged Children with Atopic Dermatitis / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Atopic dermatitis (AD) in school-aged children may affect their daily activities and psychological well-being. It can also have a negative impact on the child's behavior. Little is known about the quality of life (QOL) and psychiatric symptoms in school-aged children and their relationship to disease severity. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to document the impact of AD on QOL and psychiatric symptoms in school-aged children by disease severity. METHODS: Seventy-eight AD patients aged 7approximately19 years were included in this study. Participants completed the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI), Kovacs' Children's Depression Inventory (CDI), and the Korean Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Rating Scale (K-ARS). Disease severity was evaluated using the SCORAD (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis) index. RESULTS: The SCORAD was 28.95+/-17.92 (mean+/-SD), and the CDLQI was 8.04+/-6.29. The CDLQI was significantly correlated with the SCORAD. Psychiatric symptoms (CDI and K-ARS) did not show a correlation with the SCORAD, but they worsened with increasing CDLQI score. There was no statistically significant difference among the different age groups. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that AD had an impact on school-aged children's QOL and psychological well-being. Severity of AD correlated with QOL decrements, indicating greater QOL impact with greater disease severity. Psychiatric symptoms were more related to subjective impairment of QOL than objective disease severity.