Comparison of quality of life in patients with acne and vitiligo

Vitiligo and acne are common chronic skin diseases with cosmetic impacts affecting various aspects of quality of life. This research was done to study the quality of life in these patients and their related factors. This cross-sectinal study was carried out on 132 patients with vitiligo and 136 patients with acne. The patients were asked to answer questionnaires including questions about their demographic and clinical information as well as questionnaire of Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). SpSS version 16 was used to statistically describe and test the data. The mean±standard deviation (SD) ages of patients with vitiligo and acne، were 22. 8±5. 7 and 28. 9±11. 5 years، respectively. The proportions of female patients with vitiligo and acne were 54. 5% and 83. 8%، respectively. Patients were matched for age and gender. There was no statically significant differrence between the mean DLQI score and age، martial status، occupation، residence، education، age of onset of disease in neither group. Patients with more chronic vitiligo experienced significantly impaired quality of life (P=0. 008). A statistically differrence was found between mean DLQI scores and clinical forms of vitiligo. The mean scores of patients with generalized type was higher than those with localized forms (P=0. 032). Patients with severe acne experienced significantly impaired quality of life (P=0. 002). The mean DLQI scores in vitiligo and acne were 6. 75 and 7. 05، respectively، but this differrence was not statistically significant (P=0. 08). A statistically significant difference was found in two subgroup: in symptoms and feelings (P=0. 002) and interpersonal relationships (P=0. 02). The quality of lifves of patients were affecteded by the type of disease، its severity and its duration in both groups.