15. Mainzer Allergie-Workshop 2003

Quality of life in patients with chronic urticaria is differentially impaired and determined by psychiatric comorbidity

Summary Background  Chronic urticaria (CU), one of the most common skin disorders, is characterized by spontaneous recurrent bouts of weals and pruritus and associated with severely impaired quality of life (QoL). Objectives  To determine what aspects of life quality are affected and to characterize the factors that impact on QoL in CU patients. Subjects and methods  This interdisciplinary interview/questionnaire-based study included 100 patients admitted to a University Hospital Dermatology Department for the identification of underlying causes of CU; 96 healthy subjects matched for age and sex were used as controls. QoL was assessed using Skindex-29, a validated instrument to measure the …