Questionnaire of quality of life in patients with primary hyperhidrosis

background: hyperhidrosis or excessive sudoresis is a chronic disease associated with important subjective distress. objective: to propose a specific questionnaire to evaluate the quality of life of patients with hyperhidrosis. methods: from october 1995 to march 2002, 378 patients (234 females), with a mean age of 26.8 years, were evaluated before and after video-assisted thoracic sympathectomy. results: therapeutic success was obtained in 90% of the procedures. the recurrence rate was 10% for palmar and 11% for axillary hyperhidrosis; 27% of the patients who had recurrence were re-operated successfully. no serious complications were reported. of the total number of patients, 91% answered to the quality of life questionnaire, and 86% of them reported improvement after the procedure. conclusions: thoracic sympathectomy is a therapeutic method capable of changing the quality of life of patients with hyperhidrosis. the questionnaire applied has shown these changes.