Systematic Review of Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescents with Psoriasis.

Background: Many cases of psoriasis begin in adolescence. The affected adolescents face the combined physical and psychosocial challenges of their disease-free peers with the added complexity of a visible disease.

Objective: To review the impact of psoriasis on the health-related quality of life (HRQL) in adolescents as compared to their peers with other chronic diseases and to determine the best tools to measure HRQL in this population.

Methods: A systematic literature review was completed using PubMed.

Results: 256 publications were screened for inclusion, 37 were relevant to objectives and included in the systematic review. Most studies are pediatric psoriasis studies with an adolescent subgroup, very few are dedicated to solely addressing HRQL in adolescents with psoriasis. Adolescents with psoriasis face both the challenges similar to an adult psoriasis population in addition to the complexities inherent to healthy adolescents. Studies often use a general pediatric HRQL measure, PedsQL 4.0, or a dermatology-specific measure adapted from an adult questionnaire. Only one psoriasis-specific measurement tool exists, and it is specifically for scalp psoriasis.

Conclusion: Both dermatologists and primary care physicians should treat the visible cutaneous lesions and disease comorbidities and address the psychosocial impact of psoriasis in their adolescent patients. Use of both a general and dermatology-specific HRQL questionnaire may allow physicians to better identify the impact of the disease and recognize improvement or impairment over time.