Illness Acceptance as the Measure of the Quality of Life in Moderate Psoriasis

Abstract

Introduction

Psoriasis is a chronic disease with intermittent flares and remissions. Each individual perceives the disease, its somatic effects, resultant dysfunction and related problems differently. This attitude is primarily determined by one’s characterological traits and type of illness. A primary response to the diagnosis can be denial, underestimation, acceptance or overestimation of the disease. The aim of the study was to analyze the level of illness acceptance and its effect on the quality of life in moderate psoriasis depending on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients.

Materials and Methods

The study included 186 patients with plaque psoriasis with Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) scores ≤10. The inclusion criteria of the study were duration of psoriasis >2 years, age ≥18 years, and lack of other somatic or mental disorders during three months preceding the study. The study participants completed the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) as well as an original survey containing questions about their sociodemographic characteristics and information about their disease.

Results

Mean AIS score for the study group was 24.3 pts. Patients older than 40 years presented with lower levels of illness acceptance than younger persons (p = 0.0311). Also, patients’ sex and duration of psoriasis significantly affected the acceptance of the illness, with lower AIS scores found in women (p = 0.0092) and persons with a longer history of the disease (p = 0.0362). Mean DLQI score for the study group was 13.3 pts. A lower level of illness acceptance turned out to exert an unfavorable effect on the quality of life (QOL) in psoriasis (p = 0.0015; R = −0.33).

Conclusion

In this study, patients with psoriasis presented with a moderate level of the illness acceptance, and a significant correlation was found between this parameter and QOL.

Keywords:

• illness acceptance
• psoriasis
• psychodermatology
• quality of life

Data Sharing Statement

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Ethics

Compliance with ethics guidelines: the protocol of the study was approved by the Local Bioethics Committee at the Medical University of Bialystok. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the patients who participated in the survey.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting or revising the article, have agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Barbara Jankowiak was a major contributor in writing the manuscript and supervised this study. Was responsible for patient recruitment, data collection, data analysis, and drafting the manuscript.

Beata Kowalewska was a major contributor in writing the manuscript, was involved in the development of the idea, data analysis, and drafting the manuscript.

Elżbieta Krajewska–Kułak was involved in the development of the idea and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

Rafał Milewski was involved in the development of the idea and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

Maria Anna Turosz was involved in the development of the idea and revised the manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest for this work.

Additional information

Funding

This study and the Rapid Service Fee were funded by Medical University of Bialystok, Poland. All authors had full access to all of the data in this study and take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the data analysis. Neither honoraria nor other forms of payments were made for authorship.