Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
European Archives of Medical Research, cilt.38, sa.4, ss.255-260, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
Objective: Chronic skin diseases can negatively affect the quality of life. They may cause impairment of work productivity and have a socio- economical burden. In this study, we evaluated patients who applied to our hospital for the determination of disability due to chronic skin diseases. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the patients who were given a disability rate by our department between 2008 and 2018. The demographic features of the patients, diagnosis of the skin disease, involved areas of the body and accompanying comorbidities were recorded. Skin diseases were classified and rates of disabilities were determined according to the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services and the Ministry of Health’s disability assessment scale for adults. Results: A total of 137 patients were included in the study. Eighty-two (59.8%) of the patients were male and 55 (40.1%) were female. The mean rate of disability due to skin diseases was 11.31±10.91. The mean rate of disability was 12.0 for male patients and 10.2 for female patients. The most common diseases causing disability were inflammatory skin diseases (22.6%), skin manifestations of autoimmune and systemic skin diseases (18.9%), skin tumors (16.7%) and eczema (11.6%). Psoriasis vulgaris is the most common (96.6%) inflammatory skin disease. Of the skin manifestations of autoimmune and systemic skin diseases, Behçet’s disease (34.6%) accounted for most patients, while autoimmune bullous diseases had the highest rate of disability. Malignant melanoma had the highest disability rates among skin tumors. Among the eczema group, patients with contact dermatitis (62.5%) had the highest rate of disability. Patients with genetic skin diseases, such as ichthyosis, epidermolysis bullosa and lipoid proteinosis, had the highest rate of disability overall. Conclusion: Chronic skin diseases may cause disability as well as a decrease in quality of life. Patients with chronic skin disease should be evaluated with their psychological and occupational aspects.