Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

BACKGROUND: The Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) is the most widely used instrument for measuring the impact of skin disease on quality of life (QoL) in children. OBJECTIVES: To provide a meta-analysis of all published QoL scores for a range of childhood skin conditions. METHODS: Studies using the CDLQI questionnaire to measure QoL in skin conditions were identified by searching Medline and Embase from January 1995 (CDLQI creation) to December 2014. Studies were grouped according to condition and baseline scores were combined using meta-analysis. RESULTS: Sixty-seven studies using the CDLQI met the inclusion criteria. The overall estimated CDLQI scores for conditions reported more than once were [point estimate (95% confidence interval, CI), number of studies (n), score range]: atopic eczema [8·5 (7·1-9·8), n = 38, 0-29], acne [5·3 (1·9-8·5), n = 5, 0-30], alopecia [3·1 (0-7·7), n = 2, 0-6], molluscum contagiosum [3·5 (0·6-6·7), n = 5, 0-27], psoriasis [8·0 (3·9-12·1), n = 6, 0-29], scabies [9·2 (0·0-20·3), n = 2, 1-26], urticaria [7·1 (0-15·4), n = 2, 0-22], vitiligo [6·5 (0·7-12·2), n = 2, 0-20] and warts [2·9 (0-5·8), n = 4, 0-16]. Overall, the mean effect on QoL [weighted average CDLQI score 4·6 (95% CI 3·9-5·4)] for children with these conditions was small. However, many children were found to experience a very large impact on QoL (34% of children with atopic eczema, 10% with molluscum contagiosum and 1-5% with acne) in studies where the distributions of scores were provided. CONCLUSIONS: Most skin conditions in children have a 'small' mean effect on QoL. However, the range is large and a significant proportion of children with many common skin conditions will experience a very large effect on quality of life.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/bjd.14361

Type

Journal article

Journal

Br J Dermatol

Publication Date

04/2016

Volume

174

Pages

853 - 861

Keywords

Adolescent, Child, Child, Preschool, Humans, Patient Satisfaction, Quality of Life, Severity of Illness Index, Skin Diseases, Surveys and Questionnaires