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Vitiligo is a pigmentary disease affecting 1-2% of the world’s population. The effect of the quality of life (QoL) is estimated to be less than psoriasis or Atopic dermatitis. However, this may be an under estimation in people with darker skin color.
Aim
The objective of this study was to determine the clinico-epidemiological profile and to estimate the effect of vitiligo on quality of life among patients attending the Regional Dermatology Training Centre, Tanzania.
Methods
This was a hospital based cross sectional study. All demographic, clinical and psychological data was obtained using a questionnaire. The severity of vitiligo was assed using the Vitiligo European Task Force form and the effect on QoL determined using a standardized Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire.
Results
One hundred and twenty two patients were enrolled. The male-female ratio was 1:1.8. The mean age of disease onset was 26.5years (SD 19.5) with 64.8% below the age of 40years. Vitiligo vulgaris was the commonest type (50.8%) and one patient had vitiligo universalis. The mean percentage BSA affected was 7.86% (SD ± 11.5). Overall 82.8% (n=101) had 10% or less of the BSA affected. The mean BSA for male was 5.6% (SD±7.0), while for the females was 9.1% (SD±13.3). 41.8% of the patients had initial lesions on the head and neck and the median duration of the disease was 36 months (range 1-480). Vitiligo was active in 51% while family history of vitiligo, erythema and koebnerization was observed in 9.8%, 17.2%, and 28.7% of the patients respectively. Few patients (18.2% n=21) had co-morbidities with atopic dermatitis (n=12) as the commonest. Majority (83.8%) of the patients perceived their disease was moderate to severe while the clinicians graded 50.8% has moderate to severe disease. This difference was statistically significant (p =0.001). The mean DLQI score was 7.2 (SD=4.8) which indicates that patients life was moderately affected. Gender, BSA, Prior treatment and response to treatment was statistically (p<0.05) associated with impaired QoL however this was not sustained on multivariate analysis.
Conclusion
Our study confirms that people with darker skin have similar clinical and epidemiological profile as reported in other studies. However their Qol is more affected due to the contrast in skin color. |
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