The impact of rosacea on quality of life: effects of demographic and clinical characteristics and various treatment modalities

Abstract

Background: Rosacea has a major psychosocial impact on a patient's life.

Objectives: To determine the impact of rosacea on patient quality of life, the relationship of quality of life scores to clinical and demographic variables, and the change in quality of life following various treatments.

Methods: Patients' demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded at their initial examination and their response to treatment and side-effects were recorded additionally at their follow-up examination. Rosacea severity was scored for each of four signs from 0 to 3. Patients were requested to complete Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaires.

Results: A total of 308 patients took part in this study. Mean ± SD DLQI total score at the initial visit was 6·93 ± 5·18 and was related to patients' age, sex, age at disease onset, subjective symptoms, triggering factors, previous treatments, rosacea severity scores and patients' self-assessment of ease of living with rosacea. Of these 308 patients, 164 completed the DLQI following treatment. Mean ± SD post-treatment DLQI score was 4·36 ± 4·82. Post-treatment scores were also related to sex, type of treatment modality, development of side-effects, improvement of rosacea, rosacea severity scores and patients' self-reported ease of living with rosacea. Topical metronidazole, oral tetracycline and oral isotretinoin were observed to reduce signs and symptoms of rosacea and DLQI scores significantly at this repeat examination.

Conclusions: Rosacea affects patients' lives to a moderate extent, and this can be assessed by using DLQI. DLQI is also sensitive to quality of life changes brought about by treatment of rosacea. As a preliminary result we can say that topical metronidazole, oral tetracycline and oral isotretinoin seem to improve quality of life of patients by improving lesions of rosacea more efficiently than other therapeutic agents.