Vitiligo impacts mental health, quality of life
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WAILEA, Hawaii — Patients with vitiligo, especially those with darker skin types, report negative impacts on their mental health and quality of life due to their disease, according to a poster presented at Maui Derm for Dermatologists.
The population-based Vitiligo and Life Impact among International Communities (VALIANT) study asked 3,541 patients with vitiligo (median age, 38 years; 54.6% men; 51.1% white) to complete a 25-minute cross-sectional online survey with questions regarding the disease’s impact on multiple aspects of life.
“This VALIANT study assessed patient well-being, but there are a number of important findings that may have implications on how clinicians manage their patients with vitiligo,” Kristen Bibeau, PhD, MSPH, executive director and head of global epidemiology and real-world evidence statistics for Incyte Corporation, told Healio.
Nearly half of respondents (46%) reported daily management of their vitiligo was burdensome to their lives, with 47.8% reporting “life would be very different without vitiligo.”
Mental health conditions such as anxiety (28.8%) and depression (24.5%) were reported in 58.7% of respondents.
Notably, while only 24.5% of patients had been diagnosed with depression, 55% had symptoms of depression measured by responses to the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 depression screener.
“There exists a gap between patients who reported having depression and those who reported symptoms consistent with depression but not a diagnosis, and we found that was a striking finding,” Bibeau said.
The mean Vitiligo Impact Patient Scale score, used to measure impact on quality of life, was 27.3 globally, with patients in India reporting the highest impact with 40.2.
More than 30% of patients reported an impact to their emotional well-being, self-esteem, relationships or work life.
Vitiligo made 49% of participants feel less confident and more self-conscious, with those in India (71%) and South Africa (69%) having the highest rates.
Also, 46.6% said that others did not understand what it is like living with vitiligo; 60.7% of those agreeing were from Africa or the Middle East.
When asked about the disease’s impact on their work life, 41.9% reported they believed they would be further along in their careers if they did not have vitiligo.
“Patients reported discontent with current treatment options, withdraw from social situations and that the Fitzpatrick skin type has an influence on the degree of burden in the patient’s life,” Bibeau said. “The findings suggest an opportunity exists for clinicians to be cognizant of symptoms consistent with depression and how vitiligo affects their patients’ professional lives.”
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Bibeau K, et al. Poster. Mental health and psychosocial burden among patients living with vitiligo: Findings from the global VALIANT study. Presented at: Maui Derm for Dermatologists; Jan. 24-28, 2022; Wailea, Hawaii.
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