A study of pattern and assessment of life quality index in patients of nonvenereal dermatoses of external genitalia at a tertiary care center.

Background: Nonvenereal dermatoses (NVD) are the spectrum of disorders involving the genitalia with varied etiology and having a considerable influence on the health-related quality of life (QOL), but it remains under evaluated.

Objective: To study the prevalence, pattern, and the effect of nonvenereal genital dermatoses on the QOL of patients with the help of dermatological life quality index (DLQI) questionnaire.

Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted for a period of 1 year. A total of 132 patients were included in the study. QOL was assessed by using the DLQI questionnaire.

Results: The prevalence was found to be 10.2/1000 cases in our study. Genital scabies (34.8%) was the common dermatoses followed by vitiligo (18.9%) and lichen simplex chronicus (8.3%). These dermatoses were having moderate effect on the DLQI of majority (52.3%) of the patients and its having very large effect on DLQI in 20.5% of patients. Mean DLQI scores were high among the age group of 41-70 years, male sex and in patients who had <1 month duration of the dermatoses. Regarding individual dermatoses, infestation (scabies) was having higher mean DLQI scores and it was statistically significant.

Conclusion: This study depicts that NVD are having impact on the QOL and its mainly attributed to the site of dermatoses and also due to the symptoms. Proper counseling about the nature of these disorders and prompt treatment were important, thereby improving the QOL of such patients.