Association between quality of life and perceived stress in patients with vitiligo: case control study

Abstract

To evaluate the association between quality of life (QL), perceived stress in patients with vitiligo and compare the perception of stress with noncarriers. The first study was cross-secctional, and the second case-control with 51 patients in outpatient treatment and 51 users of a blood center, matched by sex and age. Questionnaires used were Dermatology Life Quality Index and Perceived Stress Scale. Results: The mean score of quality of life in patients was 4.7 ± 5.8, showing a slight impairment in QL. There was association between QL and black skin color (p <0.001), involvement of standard exposed vitiligo (p < 0.001) and perceived stress (p = 0.033). The perceived stress rated among the groups showed an average of 20.7 ± 6.0 and 17.8 ± 7.0 for cases and controls, respectively. Vitiligo patients had higher perceived stress compared to the control group (p = 0.022). The results showed a high perceived stress in patients with vitiligo, suggesting that the disease increases the level of stress. The overall score of the quality of life was relatively low indicating mild impairment of disease on quality of life.