Quality of Life of Patients With Pyoderma Gangrenosum and Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Background: Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) and hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are painful and unsightly dermatologic disorders that have the potential to significantly decrease patients' quality of life (QOL). Due to the difficulties associated with curing these conditions, QOL improvement is imperative. Objective: To determine if there are PG and HS disease-specific QOL measures and to assess whether QOL is being systematically studied in clinic populations or clinical trials. Methods: A PubMed search was performed to identify QOL studies for patients with PG and HS. Sources from other papers were also utilized. Results: QOL is rarely qualitatively or quantitatively assessed in HS and PG studies. We identified no validated disease-specific QOL measures for either PG or HS. Conclusion: Development of disease-specific QOL indices, clinical use of QOL measurement tool, and formal QOL evaluation in clinical trials would help to define the impact of PG and HS treatment in patients' lives.