Comparative Analysis of Quality of Life Impact in Patients with Autoimmune Blistering Disease

    May 2019 in “ Journal of Investigative Dermatology ”
    Shomoukh A. Alshamekh, Taryn DeGrazia, Shuo Chen, Y. Liu, Ron J. Feldman
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    TLDR Patients with autoimmune blistering diseases experience a reduced quality of life, with the need for better measurement tools, especially for those with mucous membrane pemphigoid.
    The cross-sectional analysis studied the quality of life (QOL) impact on 79 patients with autoimmune blistering diseases (AIBD), including 30 with pemphigus, 26 with bullous pemphigoid (BP), and 23 with mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP). The study utilized questionnaires to assess QOL and found significant burdens of pruritus in pemphigus and BP patients. A positive correlation between QOL and disease severity was observed in pemphigus and BP but not in MMP, indicating that current QOL assessment tools may not be adequately sensitive for MMP. Additionally, all patient subtypes reported that treatments were time-consuming, with BP patients expressing particular concerns about illness and medication dosage. These findings underscore the necessity for more sensitive QOL measurement tools, particularly for MMP patients.
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