Research Article: Illness-related stigma mediates the association between disease severity and dermatology- specific quality of life in chronic inflammatory skin diseases: a structural equation modeling study
Abstract:
Chronic inflammatory skin diseases substantially impair health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, clinical severity alone does not fully account for variability in patient-reported outcomes.
To test a theory-driven pathway model linking disease severity to HRQoL via illness-related stigma and to examine the roles of hope and perceived social support.
In this single-center cross-sectional study ( n = 404), disease severity was assessed using affected body surface area (BSA), itch and skin pain. Illness-related stigma (8-item Stigma Scale for Chronic Illnesses, SSCI-8), hope (Herth Hope Index, HHI), perceived social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, MSPSS) and HRQoL (Dermatology Life Quality Index, DLQI) were assessed using validated Chinese-language versions. Structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation and bias-corrected bootstrapping (5,000 resamples) was performed.
The model demonstrated good fit (? 2 /df = 2.04; CFI = 0.977; TLI = 0.969; RMSEA = 0.051; SRMR = 0.058). Greater BSA (? = 0.30), itch (? = 0.20) and pain (? = 0.20) were associated with higher stigma (all P < 0.001). Stigma was associated with lower hope (? = ?0.53) and worse dermatology-specific HRQoL (higher DLQI scores; ? = 0.44) (both P < 0.001). Hope (? = ?0.30, P < 0.001) and perceived social support (? = ?0.13, P = 0.007) were independently associated with better dermatology-specific HRQoL. The model accounted for 16.1% of the variance in stigma, 28.0% in hope, and 44.0% in dermatology-specific HRQoL.
Disease burden may influence HRQoL partly through illness-related stigma and reduced hope. These findings support integrating psychosocial assessment into routine dermatologic care.
Introduction:
Chronic inflammatory skin diseases substantially impair health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, clinical severity alone does not fully account for variability in patient-reported outcomes.
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