Health-Related Quality of Life of Patients with Hidradenitis Suppurativa Measured with the 15D Instrument and Comparison with the General Population and Patients with Psoriasis.

Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease significantly impacting health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We measured the HRQoL of Finnish HS patients and compared it with that of the general population and psoriasis patients.

Methods: Twenty-six diagnosed HS patients completed the 15D HRQoL questionnaire (15D), the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and the Beck Depression Inventory-21 (BDI-21). The correlation between the results of these instruments was analyzed and the 15D results were compared with an age-standardized general population and psoriasis patients.

Results: Compared with an age-standardized general population, HS patients scored statistically significantly worse on several 15D dimensions. A statistically significant difference compared to psoriasis patients was detected on the sexual activity dimension. Even though not statistically significant, the observed mean values of the remaining dimensions suggest that clinically important differences may exist. The 15D score negatively correlated with the DLQI score ( r = -0.492; p = 0.011) and the BDI-21 score ( r = -0.592; p = 0.001).

Conclusions: HS is a serious condition, with an impact at least comparable to that of psoriasis. This study shows that the 15D is a feasible tool for examining HRQoL in HS patients.