Evaluation of self-esteem and dermatological quality of life in adolescents with atopic dermatitis

Background and Design: Atopic dermatitis is a chronic, inflammatory skin disease characterized by itchy skin lesions. Since adolescents are intensely interested in their physical appearance, chronic skin diseases in this period can adversely affect the development of self esteem. Atopic dermatitis is a skin disease that affects the appearance and there is an heightened attention to the body image in adolescence which is an important period of time in the development of self-esteem. Therefore, we aimed to investigate self-esteem and dermatological quality of life in adolescents with atopic dermatitis. Materials and Methods: Thirty-three patients with atopic dermatitis and 33 healthy controls were included in the study. The Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale and the Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) were used for determining self-esteem and quality of life. The Scoring of Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) Index was used to assess the severity of atopic dermatitis. Results: It was found that patient group had lower self-esteem than healthy controls according to the Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale. A statistically significant difference was observed in happiness/satisfaction and anxiety subscale scores between the patients and healthy controls while there was no significant difference between the other sub-scale scores. Mean value of dermatological quality of life in patients with atopic dermatitis was significantly lower than in healthy controls. A moderate negative correlation was found between self-esteem and CDLQI scores among adolescents with atopic dermatitis. Discussion: This study results have shown that self-esteem and dermatological quality of life were adversely affected in adolescents with atopic dermatitis irrespective of gender. These patients should be examined psychiatrically besides dermatological examination and treatment. We suggest that improvement will be observed in self-esteem and quality of life of adolescents with atopic dermatitis by providing the necessary psychosocial support.