Impact of Childhood Vitiligo on Self Esteem and Quality of Life in Adulthood

Objective: To evaluate the impact of stigma around childhood vitiligo on self- esteem and quality of life of the patients in adulthood.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional paper based survey at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom from January to June 2019.

Results: There was a statistically significant negative correlation between DLQI and RSES i.e., the bigger the effect of vitiligo on the quality of life, the lower the self-esteem of the patient (P=0.006, Pearson correlation coefficient= -0.638). The highest scoring domain on DLQI was emotional distress (embarrassment), followed by clothes and social life. The least affected were physical symptoms and work life (mean= 0.176).

Conclusion: There is a huge stigma around childhood vitiligo and this has an adverse impact on the self-esteem and quality of life of patients in adulthood. The inverse relationship between RSES and DLQI highlights the need for psychological intervention along with dermatological therapies in these patients.

Keywords: Vitiligo, Self-Esteem, Childhood.