Analysis of quality of life and influencing factors in 197 Chinese patients with port-wine stains

Abstract

Port-wine stains (PWS) are congenital capillary malformations, usually occurring on the face, neck, and other exposed parts of the skin, that have serious psychological and social impact on the patient. Most researchers focus on the treatment of PWS, but the quality of life (QoL) of PWS patients is seldom researched. The objective of this study is to evaluate the QoL of patients with PWS on exposed parts and explore the factors influencing the QoL of PWS patients. The QoL of 197 cases with PWS on exposed parts were prospectively studied using the Dermatology Life Quality Index questionnaire (DLQI), and the factors influencing the patients’ QoL were analyzed by single-factor analysis and multiple-factor logistic regression analysis. The reliability and validity of the QoL of PWS patients were then assessed by DLQI. A total of 197 valid questionnaires were collected. The DLQI scores in PWS cases ranged from 2 to 16, with 2 to 5 in 52.29% (103/197), 6 to 10 in 42.13% (83/197), and 11 to 20 in 5.58% (11/197). The main score elements of the DLQI focused on symptoms and feelings, daily activities, and social entertainment. Single-factor analysis and multiple-factor logistic regression analysis showed that the main influencing factors were female sex, skin hypertrophy, and lesion area >30 cm2. The inter-item correlation averaged 47.46% and the Cronbach α was 0.740, indicating high internal consistency. Correlation of the 6 dimensions of the DLQI questionnaires with the total scores showed that the Spearman correlation coefficient r ranged from 0.550 to 0.782 (P < .001), with symptoms and feelings having a correlation coefficient of 0.782 and a high correlation with total scores. This study shows that PWS has mild to moderate influence on the QoL of most patients, mainly on daily activities, social entertainment, and feelings.

Self‐stigma and psychosocial burden of patients with port‐wine stain: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…3 The lesions grow proportionately with age and can lead to the formation of papules and nodules or may develop into hypertrophic PWS. 4 Aside from cosmetic disfigurement, PWS hypertrophy may also impair sight, speech, nasal breathing, and hearing. 5 PWS is also associated with two uncommon syndromes: Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) and Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome (KTS).…”

Questionnaire Modifications and Alternative Scoring Methods of the Dermatology Life Quality Index: A Systematic Review

“…Internal consistency was rated as positive for 4 questionnaires and intermediate for 9 others (Appendix 10 in Supplemental Materials found at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2021.02.006). Cronbach's a and person separation index for these modified questionnaires ranged from 0.67 to 0.87 [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] and from 0.68 to 0.87, respectively. [22][23][24]30 Evidence on reliability was available for 3 articles, 1 was rated as positive, while 2 of them were intermediate.…”

Fully Automatic Prediction for Efficacy of Photodynamic Therapy in Clinical Port-Wine Stains Treatment: A Pilot Study

“…Most of the PWS lesions are benign. As the lesions do not regress spontaneously and deepen in color with age, patients' mental health could be significantly impacted [3]. Traditional therapies like freezing, surgical excision and tattooing are not used anymore, because they damage the skin and leave permanent scars after treatment [4].…”