ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH OF PSORIASIS PATIENTS BY SHORT FORM 36 HEALTH SURVEY SCORING

Psoriasis

Abstract

Objective: To assess the physical and mental health of psoriasis patients using short form 36 health survey scoring and its comparison with normal subjects.
Design: Case-control study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Dermatology Combined Military Hospital Abbottabad, Pakistan from July 2009 to March 2010.
Patients and Methods: A total of 40 patients, 18 years of age or older, clinically diagnosed as psoriasis, without any mental or physical illness were surveyed. Age and sex matched 40 normal individuals were selected as controls. Clinical severity of psoriasis was measured by PASI score. Short form 36 questionnaire urdu version was given to the psoriasis patients and the control group and assisted by the trained staff to fill the questionnaire. The ethical requirements for the study were fulfilled. SPSS 10 was used for data analysis.
Results: The mean PASI score of the psoriasis patients was 9.72 (SD ± 2.42). The mean score of SF 36 in the patient group was 44.43 (SD ± 3.62) while that in control group was 84.95 (SD ± 3.61) (p < 0.001). The p values in all 8 domains of the SF 36 were highly significant. The physical and mental component scores of psoriasis patients were significantly lower compared to control group.
Conclusion: Psoriasis patients have significantly low physical and mental health and thus lower quality of life as compared to healthy individuals.