Cutaneous dermatophytosis: A problem deeper than we perceive – A cross sectional prospective study on quality of life in 385 patients

Background: The number of patients affected with dermatophytosis constitutes a large proportion in dermatology out patient setup. The impact of disease is not only limited to skin, but also affects the personal and social life of these patients. Dermatology life quality index has often been used to assess the impact of a dermatosis on patients’ lives, but this data is meager in context of dermatophytosis. Objectives: To study the quality of life of patients affected with cutaneous dermatophytosis using Dermatology life quality index (DLQI) and to study the association of DLQI with age, sex, socio-economic status (SES), duration of disease, body surface area (BSA) involved and number of relapses in the disease course. Methods: The study was undertaken for a period of nine months. A total of 385 patients aged 18 or more were enrolled having clinically and microscopically proven dermatophytosis of skin, and were distributed the DLQI questionnaire to answer. Basic demographic details, socioeconomic status, body surface area and number of relapses were also recorded, and the data was assessed for correlation with DLQI. Results: Two hundred and ninety (75.3%) patients reported to have a large or extremely large impact on life due to tinea. Statistically significant association of DLQI was found with duration of illness (p = 0.005), number of relapses (p = 0.003) and socioeconomic class (p = 0.027). Conclusion: The impact of cutaneous dermatophytosis as reflected by DLQI scores is huge and deserves attention not only in terms of the effect it has on skin, but also the personal, social, and financial burden caused there of.